


What If ?

by DestianaCaldin



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: AU, F/M, Fake Dating, just a lot of fluff, no superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 47,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24866392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestianaCaldin/pseuds/DestianaCaldin
Summary: What if the particle accelerator hadn't exploded? Would Barry and Caitlin have ever met? What would their lives look like today? Would they have the same chemistry?Snowbarry AU without superpowers.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Caitlin Snow
Comments: 13
Kudos: 58





	1. Costumes And Sparkles

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first Snowbarry story I wrote and posted on ff.net back in 2015, when the show had just started. I'm posting it here to share it with anyone who wants to read it.
> 
> I don't own anything ! Enjoy ;)

" _So, I didn't want to go to this party. Like really not._

_First, I knew that my ex was going to be there._

_Second, his new best friend, some older crazy scientist was going to be joined at his hip, like always._

_Third, I didn't know anybody else, except Cisco, and he was with the majority of his friends._

_And last, but not least, it was a freaking costume party!_

_I, Dr. Caitlin Snow, was dressed like some freak snow queen, at some weird party, in the middle of nowhere. Why, you ask me? Why would I do this to myself? Well, I'm doing this for Cisco. He was so excited about tonight! He made extraordinary costumes for the both of us and he even came up with some nicknames. He was playing some superhero named Vibe, and I was supposed to be some villain, named Killer Frost. Don't ask me how he came up with these names; I just know he thought it was funny to call me Frost, since my last name was Snow._

_Anyway, Cisco convinced me to come to this party, because apparently, I don't have a life. Which is totally not true! I cook and I eat … I read … And I work … I don't really have time to have a life. But I'm trying, that's why I'm here."_

Caitlin was in the corner of the room, thinking and looking at all these people, dressed in costumes, having a life just before her eyes. She couldn't help herself studying each one of them. She was a scientist after all. Her job was to observe things around her. They all seemed to have a blast. Some were dancing in the middle of the room, some were chatting, some were drinking, some were playing, some were flirting … Cisco was at the far right of the room, at the centre of his friends' attention. He was probably telling some fascinating story or some funny joke. Caitlin was glad to see him like that, he seemed really happy.

Not far away, she spotted the one person she was trying to avoid. Ronnie Raymond, her ex-boyfriend. He was with Dr. Stein and they were both dressed in some fire costume she didn't really understand. She turned around, not wanting them to see her. But too late, Ronnie had already spotted her and came towards her.

"Hi Caitlin!" he said, a little flirty.

She turned back again, facing him. "Ronnie! I didn't know you were here tonight" she pretended.

"Yeah, I've been waiting for this party for like a month! So how have you been?" he asked.

Caitlin nervously played with her hands, not looking straight at him. "Fine, fine" she mumbled, "I've been great." Which was a total lie. She hadn't taken the breakup with Ronnie very well. One day, he just took off, with Dr. Stein, to do some research. He never really thought about what it would do to Caitlin or to ask her what she thought about it. He had barely said goodbye. When Ronnie came back, he tried to get back together with her, but it was too late. She had survived the heartbreak and she had moved on. But he was still trying and it was making her uncomfortable. And seeing him was still painful.

Ronnie seemed oblivious to her inner struggle and continued to chitchat about how great his research was going, how awesome his partnership with Dr. Stein was … Caitlin was looking around her, desperately searching for an escape, but came back empty. Cisco was still occupied and she didn't know anybody else.

" _Come one, think of something, Snow! You're a freaking doctor, you should be able to handle your ex!"_ she told herself.

"There you are, honey!"

Caitlin was too lost in her thoughts that she barely noticed when some guy came next to her, putting one arm around her shoulder and giving his other hand to Ronnie to greet him. "Hey there, I'm Barry. How are you doing?" he asked.

Ronnie was tongue tied for a few seconds, then gained back control of himself and shook the stranger's hand. "Hi, I'm Ronnie, glad to meet you." He looked briefly at Caitlin, his eyes filled with questions.

The stranger intervened again. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need my girlfriend for a few minutes. I'm sure you can continue your conversation later, but it's kind of an emergency." With that, he took Caitlin's hand, waved Ronnie goodbye, and led her to the garden. Caitlin was so lost that she let him drag her across the room to go outside. When he was sure Ronnie couldn't see them anymore, he let go of her hand and stood before Caitlin. For the first time, she looked directly at him.

He was tall, had green eyes and was wearing a red suit. Not the kind of suit that goes with a tie, but a superhero suit made of some kind of tri-polymer. She couldn't really see his face, because he had a mask. When he saw her looking at his face, he shook his head with a laugh and took off his mask.

"Sorry, I always forget about that." He said with a smile. Caitlin was still too dumbstruck to react. He fidgeted and looked around him.

" _A bit awkward, but cute"_ she thought.

"I'm Barry, by the way. I know I already said that but you seem a bit out of it …" he fidgeted some more, feeling a bit uncomfortable, didn't know what to do with himself. And Caitlin was still standing there without doing anything, just staring at him with wide eyes. "I don't normally do that kind of thing. You know … Pretend to be someone's boyfriend to flirt … Not that I was flirting! Noooo …"

Caitlin frowned at his comment and he quickly added, "Not that I wouldn't flirt with you! You look really good, so I could definitely flirt with you … Wait … I'm not hitting on you or anything … Damn! I'm digging myself into a hole here, aren't I?"

That made Caitlin smile and he relaxed. She still hadn't said a single word and he was already rambling. He took a deep breath and continued, "What I'm trying to say is, I'm not the kind of guy who speaks easily with girls, obviously. And what I did in there, pretend to be your boyfriend, was a one-time thing. You just looked like you really needed to get out of this conversation. I hope I didn't screw anything up …" He stopped for a second and frowned. Suddenly, his eyes went wide open. "Oh crap, maybe you were into that guy and that was your way of showing it! And I ruined everything by pretending to be your boyfriend! I'm such a moron! I can go in there and explain everything if you want, I can …"

"Thank you"

"… Say that it was a joke, or a bet … Or … Wait, what?"

He had barely heard her talk. She cleared her throat and said, "Thank you. You kind of saved me from a really awkward conversation with Ronnie. So thank you."

"Oh … you're welcome. But now you had to endure another awkward conversation, with me … I'm sorry." He looked very apologetic and Caitlin couldn't help herself from smiling.

"It was more funny than awkward, but I forgive you" she answered. "I'm Caitlin."

"Nice to meet you Caitlin."

They stayed in silence for a few seconds, just smiling and staring at each other. That's when they heard someone call Caitlin. It was Cisco who was looking for her. He wanted her to meet some of his friends. He was so excited that he barely noticed Barry. He just took Caitlin by the arm and dragged her with him. She just had time to mouth "Sorry" to Barry and wave. He waved back, but she was already out of sight. He smiled and wished it wouldn't the last time he'd see her.


	2. New Job Description

Caitlin entered S.T.A.R. labs with her coffee in one hand, her phone in the other hand and the newspaper under her arm. One shoulder was higher then the other, so that her handbag wouldn't fall. And she was almost running because she was late. And Dr. Snow was never late. Almost …

For some unknown reason, everything went wrong today. Her alarm clock didn't go off and she overslept. Lucky for her, she woke up just twenty minutes later. But then, her coffee maker wouldn't work. So that made her grumpier. She hit her head while searching for a nice pair of shoes in her closet and she spilled some juice on her dress shirt just before leaving. Today was just not her day. She could've been on time then, but she absolutely needed some coffee, so she had to drop by Jitters to get a cup to go.

Needless to say, she had to wait behind five people before getting her coffee. She barely had time to buy her newspaper that one of her colleagues, Hartley Rathaway, was already calling her, to know where she was. Of course he would call her if she were ten minutes late. He would jump on any occasion to belittle her in front of their boss, Dr. Wells.

So there she was, almost running to get into S.T.A.R. labs on time. Hartley was waiting for her in front of her desk, an awful smirk on his face. "Well well well, nice of you to join us Dr. Snow! What were you doing? Had some company in bed this morning?"

Caitlin tried to ignore him. Of course, he had to comment on her love life. He knew very well that she had been single since Ronnie left a year ago. She put her things down on her desk, sat at her computer and began checking her mails.

"Oh, by the way, Dr. Wells wants to see you in his office."

Caitlin glared at Hartley, but he was already gone. She took a deep breath then a sip of coffee, stood up and went to her boss's office. Dr. Wells was sitting at his desk, looking at a chessboard. He was probably playing with Hartley. She sat on the chair on the other side of his desk and waited for him to speak. He studied the chessboard for a few seconds and then looked at her.

"You know, Dr. Snow, chess is a very powerful game. It gives you insight in how your opponent is thinking, or, if he's very good, how he wants you to think he is thinking."

Caitlin frowned, not understanding why her boss was telling her that. "Anyway" he continued, "The CCPD needs our help. Your help, to be more precise. One of their top forensic scientist is sick."

He stopped talking and studied his chessboard some more. Getting impatient, Caitlin decided to make him talk. "So? Can't he go see some physician? I don't do consultation. I work here, in a lab as a Bio-Engineer. I'm not a doctor in some medical practice."

"I know that, Dr. Snow. That's not why they need your help. The young forensic scientist is on medical leave. And they need someone to replace him."

She still didn't see the point. "Well, I don't know how I can help, I'm not a forensic specialist, and I don't know anybody who is …"

"Patience, Dr. Snow. That is also a crucial point in chess. You need to be patient to perceive your opponent's technique."

 _Oh come on! We're not playing chess here! I'm wasting my time!_ Caitlin thought, but knew better than saying it out loud.

"As I was saying, they need a replacement. They already have some intern, but he has some difficulties with all the medical stuff and human samples' analysis. And that's where you come in. You'll be the one helping him with these analyses. So pack your stuff, you're beginning there in about thirty minutes. Have fun!"

Dr. Wells had already lost interest in her and continued studying his chessboard. Caitlin didn't say anything else; she stood up and went back at her desk where Cisco was waiting.

"Is it true that you're going to work with the CCPD? So cool!"

Caitlin rolled her eyes. If she wanted to work with the CCPD, she wouldn't have studied medicine for the most part of her life.

Cisco saw that she wasn't really in a good mood, so he changed the subject. "So, how cool was that party last week?! It was freaking awesome, right?"

"Yeah, it was alright", she answered, a small smile forming on her lips. She hadn't told Cisco about Barry, who had saved her from Ronnie. But she kept that memory safe in her head. She couldn't help herself from thinking about that handsome awkward stranger dressed in red. She hadn't had the occasion to talk to him again during the evening. So, the only thing she knew was his name. And she was yearning for more.

She shook her head, trying to change her thoughts. She needed to concentrate on her work and not on some stranger she was probably never going to see again. She had to get moving if she wanted to arrive in time at the CCPD precinct.

"Sorry, I can't stay to chat, I need to go." She quickly told Cisco who was saying something about a guy with a green mist costume. Caitlin gathered her things and exited S.T.A.R. labs with her cold coffee in hand.

Twenty minutes later, she was at the station. Almost running late again today. She entered the bullpen after checking in with security. A detective was already waiting for her and came towards her.

"Hey there. You must be the S.T.A.R. labs' doctor, right? I'm Detective Joe West, nice to meet you."

Caitlin shook his hand. "That's right, I'm Dr. Caitlin Snow. Pleasure to meet you."

"Here let me show you the way towards the lab." He went to the stairs and Caitlin followed him. "So, like your boss probably told you, our forensic scientist is sick and his assistant isn't as brilliant. So we could need a hand for a few days, till our expert gets better." He went up the stairs and towards a big sliding door in a hallway on the right. Caitlin couldn't help herself from admiring the place. The building had an old fashion style she really liked, with high roofs and big windows.

She followed the detective into the room and was impressed by its size. Who would've thought the CCPD's station had such a nice lab. On the far right of the room, she could see someone working with a small centrifuge. It was a young man, probably in the early twenties.

"So, we just received these samples from a crime scene. And we would like you to analyse them", the detective continued, showing her a small box filled with tiny tubes. Caitlin took one, trying to guess by its appearance what kind of sample it was. She threw him a look and he looked back at her with big round eyes. "Don't look at me, I have absolutely no idea what these tubes contain", he said.

"There is probably some DNA in there. The receipt said that it should contain some type of dry skin."

Caitlin and Joe turned around to see who was talking. It was the young man who was working on the centrifuge a few minutes ago. "Hi, I'm Jason, the intern. Or the assistant if you prefer." He offered his hand.

Caitlin looked uncertainly at his hand. Seeing her hesitate, Jason looked at it too. "Oh right, sorry. I should probably not shake your hand while wearing nitrile gloves. Not really hygienic. They're probably filled with some contaminated stuff."

"It's alright, beginners' mistake. I'm Dr. Caitlin Snow and I'll be helping you out."

Joe was trying to hold back a laugh, looking at Caitlin's stern face. "Well, I see you too already work perfectly together! I have to get back to work. Here's my number if you need anything." He said, giving her his card. "Good luck, you two!" Something in his voice made clear that he was seriously wishing them good luck. For the both of them. One will be working on something totally new with an apprentice at her heels and the other one will have to watch his every step, not to get reprimanded.

* * *

_[The next day in the middle of the afternoon]_

Caitlin was in the cold room, sorting some samples when she heard someone talk in the lab.

"What are you doing here?" she instantly recognized detective Joe's voice.

"I was bored at home. I needed to do something." Someone else said. It was probably a young man. His voice was a bit hoarse due to a sore throat, but there was something familiar about it and Caitlin couldn't put her finger on it.

"Ah come on Bar, you need to rest, go home. Things here are in very capable hands." Joe answered.

"Really? I had to check. I almost never leave my lab to some stranger." Said the unknown man. Caitlin had to roll her eyes at this comment and thought _"typical"_.

"Well, Dr. Snow is more than qualified for this. Now go, before I kick your butt."

Caitlin was surprised by the familiarity that seemed to exist between the detective and the other person, who was probably the sick forensic scientist.

She took her sample box, exited the cold chamber and went into the lab. Joe was standing there alone, seemingly looking for her. "Dr. Snow! How are things going here? Do you have something for me?" he said.

She looked around but saw no forensic scientist. She must have just missed him. She turned her focus back on Joe. "I found two sets of DNA. But one is still too damaged to find a match in your database. So I need to run a few more tests." She answered, her tone very serious.

"Great. And the first person? Did you find a match?"

"Yes. The sample belongs to a Clyde Mardon. He's a known robber apparently."

"Oh right, I know him. Thank you Dr. Snow." He was about to leave the room when Caitlin spoke again.

"Who were you talking to?"

"My son was here. He's supposed to rest, but it's hard to keep him out of the lab."

Caitlin shot him a surprised look. "The sick forensic expert is your son?" That explained the familiarity between the two men she heard earlier.

"My Bar's a real genius!" he said proudly, "Keep me posted if you find a match for the second DNA sample."

The young doctor only nodded and Joe left the lab.


	3. Meeting Again

It was late in the evening when Barry came back to his lab at the CCPD. He knew he shouldn't be here, but something wasn't feeling right about this replacement arrangement. But he didn't know what. It was probably because he didn't like that some stranger could go through his stuff.

He entered the spacious room and found it really clean. Everything seemed in place. _"Well, at least this Doctor is someone organized."_ He thought. There was only one desk that wasn't tidied and he perfectly knew it was Jason's worktable. The intern wasn't stupid, but he had his head in the clouds most of the time.

He went back to the main desk were a pile of paperwork was neatly lined up with a few pens. He quickly went through the pile and could only admit that his replacement was doing a fine job. From the corner of his eye, he saw a Petri dish with some particles inside. A note was taped on the lid.

" _Jason, could you please examine this sample? It isn't my line of work. Thank you._

_Dr. S"_

Barry looked around. It seemed like his assistant wasn't coming back. He took a pair of nitrile gloves, opened the Petri dish's lid and smelled the content. _"Hum … Faecal excrement. Animal I'd guess."_ He hesitated a few seconds, looked around again and then decided to do the analysis himself. He was missing his work deeply and couldn't stand the thought of someone getting away with his crimes because Mr. Allen was sick.

Two hours later, Barry left Jason a note with all the details of the analysis and the conclusions they had to make to catch the suspect. After that, he left the lab with a free mind and a sore throat.

* * *

" _S.T.A.R. labs decided to postpone the particle accelerator's ignition again. Some new data has been considered as unsafe for Central City. It is the second time that this process is pushed back. We remember last year, when Dr. Wells explained his choice for similar reasons as today …"_

Caitlin looked at the TV on the corner of her desk were the news' lady was speaking about Dr. Wells's project. She was kind of relieved that they weren't turning the particle accelerator on without her. She had worked really hard on that project too. And now she was stuck here, doing forensic science. She looked back at her computer screen, working on some new evidence. The Mardon's case had been quickly wrapped up when she discovered that the second person was no one else than Clyde's brother, Mark. Jason had found out that the Mardon brothers had been at a farm thanks to some faecal excrement found on the crime scene and Caitlin had been impressed by his work. Joe had been able to find the robbers in one of the selected farms not far from the city and Caitlin was now working on a new case, another robbery.

"Oh that's too bad … I really wanted to watch the particle accelerator's ignition … Next time, I guess."

Caitlin was startled. She hadn't heard anyone come in.

"Oh sorry if I scared you."

She turned around and … there he was. The handsome awkward red stranger. Just in front of her. She could see the exact moment when he recognized her too. "Caitlin?" His voice was strangled.

She was too shocked to think, so all she could ask was, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, it is my lab so …" he answered, grinning and gaining some composure.

"But I thought Joe's son was the forensic scientist …"

"And you're totally right. I'm Joe's son. Well, kind of his adoptive son, obviously." A few awkward seconds passed and then Barry asked, "So, you're the S.T.A.R. labs' doctor who's been filling in for me?"

"That's right. I guess I don't need to be here anymore, now that you feel better." She answered, already getting her things together.

Barry began to panic. During these ten last days, he had thought about this moment so many times. How would he react, what would he do, if he someday sees her again. He had had dozens of scenarios in his head and now the moment had come. And she was already leaving. A thing that never happened in any of his scenarios. So he was completely lost. He couldn't let her go, not now, not so soon.

A sound came out from the computer she had been working on a few minutes ago. He saw there a unique opportunity to make her stay a few more minutes. "Looks like your analysis is done. You're not going to leave your work unfinished, right?"

Caitlin shot him a glare and he knew he had hit a nerve. _Well done Barry_ , he thought to himself. She went back in front of the computer screen and studied it carefully. Barry took advantage of these few quiet moments to look at her. There was something about her that was drawing him to her and he couldn't resist. It felt like he already knew her, for some unknown reason. She printed some results, wrote something on it and signed the paper.

"Here you go, these results should help Joe with this case. My work here is done." She said but didn't leave. She began biting her lower lip between her teeth. She looked everywhere except him, like something was scaring her. "I've never done this kind of job before, but I have to admit, it was interesting."

Barry's smile became wider. "I love my job! It's fascinating how little things can help you put some bad guy behind bars and make the world a safer place. I almost feel like superman … well, without the superpowers and all the muscles, but you know what I mean."

Caitlin nodded. "I think I understand. Well, I better go now. Dr. Wells probably needs my help back at S.T.A.R. labs. It was nice to see you again. Who knows, maybe we'll bump into each other in a café someday. You know? To keep the clichés going?"

Barry laughed. "It seems fair. Or … I can give you my number and you could contact me if you wanted to see me. As friends, obviously … I'm not hitting on you or anything …" he said and that earned him one of her well known _Dr. Snow's frowns_. "You just seem like someone really interesting and I would like to see you again. And I don't really trust faith to reunite us in the future." Barry didn't know where he found the confidence to say that.

Caitlin smiled and nodded. Barry could barely believe it. He ran to his desk, took a piece of paper and wrote his number on it. "Here, call me whenever you want!"

"I will … think about it." She said carefully, still smiling. She took the piece of paper, her bag and left the lab, throwing one last glance at Barry. He shook his head trying to get her out of his thoughts and went back to work on Dr. Snow's analyses.

* * *

The young forensic scientist waited all day long for some sign of Caitlin. He checked his phone every now and then. He hoped that she wouldn't let faith decide their story, even if she didn't seem like someone who would. It's only two days later that his phone received a text from an unknown number. It read:

" _Hi,_

_So I heard you were interested in seeing the particle accelerator?_

_Want to drop by the S.T.A.R. labs later in the afternoon?_

_Caitlin"_

Barry had to read the text at least 4 times before believing it was true. He then instantly replied:

" _It would be my pleasure, Dr. Snow! Be there around 6 pm, if that's alright with you."_

Her response came quickly: _"Perfect! See you then, Mr. Allen."_

Barry couldn't wait. Luckily, Joe came in at that moment and distracted him a bit with some case related stuff, so that time passed more quickly.


	4. Discoveries

At 5:55 pm, Barry Allen was already in front of S.T.A.R. labs. In a few minutes, he'll get to spend time with this wonderful young lady he barely knew and had just met. Plus, he'll be able to see Dr. Wells's particle accelerator live. He couldn't quite believe this was happening to him. And everything thanks to that party he almost didn't go to.

 _Okay, take a deep breath and go in,_ he thought. So that's what Barry did. He pulled the door and entered the famous S.T.A.R. labs. There was light security that briefly checked him out, before he got in the elevator. He arrived in a small circulate room, were a young Hispanic man with long hair and a lollipop in his mouth, was standing. He was doing something on his tablet and seemed entranced by it.

Barry recognized him from the party were he had met Caitlin. He was the one calling her, interrupting their near conversation – Barry had basically rambled while Caitlin had listened.

The young Hispanic man lifted his head when he saw that someone was kind of starring at him. He smiled at Barry took his lollipop out of his mouth. "Hi, what can I do for ya'? You seem lost."

"Hi, I'm looking for Dr. Snow." Barry answered.

"Oh right! You're the forensic guy! She told me you were supposed to show up. Here, follow me. My name's Cisco, by the way." The other man said, while walking through a corridor.

"I'm Barry."

"Nice to meet you! Caitlin is in the cortex." Barry's eyes went round, so Cisco immediately continued. "Relax, dude! She's not actually in a cortex. That's how we name our main lab."

They soon arrived in said cortex and Barry immediately understood why it was called like that. The lab was completely round, with screens on the walls and a few computers, the desks were curved, and various machines were working. There were wires everywhere snaking towards the roof, like neurones in a human brain. This room was the brain of S.T.A.R. labs. He instantly fell in love with the space they had.

He followed Cisco up a few steps and entered in an annexe room. It looked like a doctor's practice, with an examination table and some medical stuff lying around. Everything was neat and organized. On the left, he could see Caitlin working on her computer at her desk.

"Hey girl! You've got a visitor." Cisco said with a grin on his face.

Caitlin lifted her head and looked towards them, a frown on her face. She immediately relaxed when she saw Barry. "Oh, I didn't see it was already 6 pm. How are you doing, Barry?"

"Great! Really excited to be here! … I mean, I'm really looking forward to seeing the particle accelerator."

Cisco snickered and Caitlin glared at him. "I'm almost finished with my work. Cisco, could you please take him down to the pipeline, to show him the particle accelerator? I'll be right there with you."

For a short moment, Barry couldn't help himself feeling a bit disappointed, like Caitlin was dismissing him. But the moment was short lived because the young doctor looked kindly at him, murmuring, "I'll be there in five minutes tops." He felt something strange lift up in his stomach as a smile formed on his lips.

Cisco seemed oblivious. "Cool! Come with me, forensic guy."

They went down to the basement while Cisco was telling him about some new superhero movie. Barry found him really nice and joyful. He was enjoying talking to him. "So, what do you do here?" he asked.

"What do you mean? I'm the heart of this project." Cisco faked a hurtful face. "Nah, I'm kidding. I'm the mechanical engineer on this baby." A big smile appeared on his lips when they entered the pipeline.

Barry lost all his words when he finally saw the particle accelerator. The only thing that he was capable of saying was "Wow".

"I know! It's freaking cool, right?"

Barry just nodded. The whole thing was huge; he couldn't see the end of it. "It looks pretty good, I have to admit. So why didn't you activate it?" he asked.

Cisco waited a few seconds before answering. "Well, apparently it's not ready. I thought so, but one of my colleagues doesn't agree. He said that if we turn it on, it might explode and have great consequences on Central City. And he's really smart, so we – Dr. Wells mainly – listened to him. Again. Even if he's a douche."

Barry laughed. "Well, let's say he was right. What would've happen if the particle accelerator exploded?"

There was another pause while Cisco seemed lost in his thoughts. "I don't really know … Maybe we would've all turned into zombies. Or gained superpowers." He paused again, studying Barry, very seriously. "You look like you run a lot."

Barry seemed surprised. "Hum … yeah. I'm always late, so running is a necessity most of the time."

"I see. I guess you would gain super speed if the particle accelerator were to explode. Seems fair to me that it would enhance one of your already existent ability. No?"

Barry nodded. "Sure, why not, it would be cool. So, what would your superpowers be?"

"Mind control … Or something like that, I'm not sure yet." His eyes opened wide and his mouth formed an O. "Creating shock waves would be awesome, right?" He nodded vigorously.

Barry grinned. "And what about Caitlin?"

"Aha!" Cisco's face lighted up. "She would have the ability to freeze everything with a glare. She can be kind of cold sometimes, plus her name is Snow. She's kind of asking for it, don't you think? And did you see the glares she can throw at you?"

"Cisco! I'll freeze you in your sleep if you keep talking."

Both men turned in direction of the voice. Caitlin was standing at the pipeline's entrance. Cisco tensed up and whispered, "Whoops, she wasn't supposed to hear that."

"I told you to show him the particle accelerator, not babble about some hypothetical superpowers."

"Oh come on, Caitlin, I was just joking. You need to loosen up a little."

She didn't seem to appreciate the comment and glared at him. "I'll loosen up when everything about this project is back to normal."

Cisco elbowed Barry and whispered sideways, "See, the famous glare."

The forensic scientist could only smile at that. He couldn't help himself from thinking that the doctor looked kind of cute, glaring at them.

"Okay, I'm sorry Caitlin. I was just trying to impress the new guy." Cisco said. She seemed to relax a bit and joined them. They continued talking about the project and explained to Barry all the basic things to know about the machine. He was amazed by the whole project and the knowledge these two young people had. He had always been a big fan of Dr. Wells, but he had never thought about the rest of the crew working on his particle accelerator. They were often not mentioned which was absolutely not fair.

During the conversation, Barry kept throwing small glances at Caitlin, even when she wasn't talking. Something about her was very intriguing. He could see himself becoming very good friends with her. Maybe more, who knew? But right now, he was just enjoying tickling his science-nerd-side.

"I swear this machine is going to be the revolution of our century!" Cisco was speaking with such passion that Caitlin and Barry could only smile and appreciate his enjoyment. He became serious again, looked directly at Barry and said: "Well, you practically know everything about this engine … And now, we will have to kill you."

Barry froze and looked anxious. Caitlin laughed. "Cisco, stop messing with him. Come on, let us show you the rest of the lab."

Cisco couldn't keep a straight face either and burst into laughter. The young forensic expert was grateful for the two other scientists. He already knew he was going to have fun with them.

"And then we could go out to get some ice cream, or a drink. Lets see which one we'll hit first." Caitlin suggested while they were leaving the particle accelerator.


	5. Building Bridges

Since that eventful day, Barry continued seeing the two S.T.A.R. labs' scientists and began considering them like real friends. Caitlin never mentioned to Cisco about their first meeting, and how Barry had pretended to be her boyfriend. She didn't even talk about it with Barry, it was kind of a silent agreement between them. So that's why things got more complicated, when one night, while they were all three out for drinks, someone unexpected showed up.

"Caitlin! Didn't know you frequented this bar."

They all raised their heads towards the newcomer. Ronnie was standing there, with a beer in his hand. Barry immediately sensed Caitlin tense up.

"Cisco, it's been a long time, how have you been?" Ronnie asked.

"Brilliantly good, thank you. How about you?"

"Pretty good too." Ronnie turned towards Barry. "Oh right, you're the new boyfriend. Nice to see you again."

Cisco chocked on his drink, Caitlin flushed and Barry froze. She had told him about her relationship with Ronnie and their breakup and how she had been heartbroken. He could feel she wasn't at ease with her ex being here. So he did the only thing he thought would help her. He continued lying and suited up with the boyfriend outfit. "That's me! You're Ronnie, right?"

Barry sat back in his chair and put an arm around Caitlin's seat. He was clearly sending a silent message to Ronnie: _"Back off_ " _._ Caitlin was still tense and Cisco was staring at them with disbelief. But it didn't take him long to understand that he had to follow Barry's lead. He couldn't sell them out. Cisco turned towards Ronnie. "So, you're here alone?"

"Nope, I'm waiting for a few friends."

"Well, you can stay with us until they arrive." said Barry with great confidence. Caitlin glanced at him, unsure of what he was doing while Ronnie nodded, took a chair and sat with them. After a few awkward seconds, Cisco decided to tell them a joke and the tension lifted itself up. Barry's arm was still behind Caitlin, still pretending to be her boyfriend.

After one beer, the four of them were having a nice time. Ronnie wasn't a bad guy, he was kind of fun, Barry thought. He could see himself becoming his friend. But he felt already really protective of Caitlin, so if he had to choose between the two of them, it would be Caitlin, without a doubt.

Ronnie's friends arrived soon after and they decided to sit all at the same table. They found a booth in the corner of the bar were they could all sit. Barry and Caitlin were squeezed together on the bench but neither of them was complaining. No one was really paying attention to them, so they talked freely, learning new things about each other. Barry had still one arm behind Caitlin, to keep pretending if there were any prying eyes.

"No way!" Caitlin laughed and Barry was in heaven. He was currently telling her a story where he had showed up late again at work and that Joe had tried to cover for him.

"I swear. Joe pretended that he had asked me to fetch something for him. And the only thing I had in my jacket's pocket was some chocolate bar already half eaten. You should have seen Captain Singh's face, it was priceless."

"You're unbelievable." Caitlin rolled her eyes at him. She liked it when he told her little anecdotes like this one. There was always a fun bit that made her smile. Barry seemed to realize that, so it was hard for him to stop telling more and more stories. It was like he needed to make her smile.

"It's nice." He told her. She raised an eyebrow and looked questioningly back at him.

"What is?"

"This." He chuckled when he saw that she didn't understand him. "I like it when I'm able to make you smile with my silly stories. Because I noticed you didn't smile too much"

Caitlin immediately flushed. "Well I think it nice too. It's kind of refreshing."

Barry grinned. "I don't know what I would've done without Joe."

She nodded but became silent and diverted her eyes. Her lower lip was trapped between her teeth like something was clearly bothering her.

He searched to catch her eyes with his, bending his head a bit to the left. "What is it?"

"Hum?" She looked back at him, clearly lost somewhere in her thoughts.

"You're doing that biting your lower lip thing that you do when something is bothering you."

She instantly stopped doing it, shaking her head. "I was just wondering what happened to your biological parents." She cautiously asked.

His smile dropped in a second and a distant look appeared on his face, like some memory was haunting him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." He was clearly upset and she was cursing herself in her head. But he raised his big green eyes, looking straight into hers and she felt like she was drowning. He was so close, his arm just behind her shoulders.

"It's alright, I'm not mad. But I don't think it's a story you want to hear today. Some other day if you want." He said with a faint smile. Caitlin felt relieved and nodded consciously. His haunted look left him and they turned their attention back to the other people surrounding them.

* * *

That night, they met a lot of new people. Even Iris West, Joe's daughter, came by during the evening with her boyfriend Eddie. Iris was Barry's best friend since childhood and he had even had had a crush on her during high school. Today, they still laughed about it, knowing it was a brother / sister kind of love that they shared. Lately, she had been asking more and more about his new friends. She was curious and had absolutely wanted to meet them. So tonight, Barry had jumped on the occasion to present them by inviting her and Eddie to the bar. Except, he hadn't predicted that Ronnie and his friends would be there too. But, after all, nobody seemed to be upset about the current situation.

Iris had thrown him a questioning look, when she saw him with Caitlin. Just with his eyes, he tried to make her understand, that he'll explain later. He must have been doing weird faces, because Iris just looked at him with raised eyebrows and nodded.

" _Well, I think she got the message"_ Barry thought when she turned her attention to introduce herself to one of Ronnie's friends. That's when he received an elbow in his right side. Not understanding where it was coming from, he turned towards the person who had just elbowed him in the ribs. He found Caitlin watching him very intently.

He frowned, still not understanding what he did to deserve such a treatment. It wasn't for the whole "fake boyfriend" obviously, because he would've had more than a bruised rib. No, there was something else. He looked around again and saw Linda Park - one of Ronnie's friends and surprisingly a colleague from Iris too - watching them. It took him a few more seconds to understand that Linda had just asked something.

"Sorry, what was the question? I was daydreaming." He said.

Linda laughed and repeated. "I was wondering, how long have you two been together?"

Barry was startled by the question. His mind went blank. Caitlin and him hadn't even talked about it, how far could this charade go on? Should they keep pretending to be a couple? He turned toward his "girlfriend" who was still looking like a deer caught in a headlights. That was Caitlin's _SOS-look_. And Barry knew that, when she was looking at him that way, he could run faster than the speed of sound to help her. Like he had felt the need to intervene that night, when she was dressed like a snow queen.

"3 months." He said without thinking much more.

"Aww, that's cute." Linda smiled. "How did you two meet?"

"At a party."

"At work."

Caitlin and Barry had talked at the same time. Linda looked puzzled between the two of them. "Well, when you've decided which story to tell people, let me know. Because right now, it feels like you've met on the Internet. Which is a total receivable answer, by the way."

Caitlin sat straighter. "Oh no no no, we didn't meet on the Internet." She didn't want Ronnie's friends to believe she was _that_ desperate after their breakup that she had to search the Internet for a boyfriend.

"Right … Well, I'd like to know the real story one day." Linda winked at them, stood up and went to the bar to buy another round of beer.

Barry immediately relaxed, but he could feel that Caitlin couldn't let go. She swallowed the rest of her drink in one shot.

Barry stared at her not quite believing what he was seeing. "Wow … That is very fast." She put her drink down "And she drank all of it." He murmured.

With that, the young doctor stood up, took her handbag and began leaving. "I think it's time for me to go home."

Barry followed her. "Wait Cait, you really want to go?"

"Yes, I'm tired and I have to work tomorrow."

He perfectly knew her excuse was in vain, but he didn't want to insist. "Well, let me at least walk with you to your place." He offered.

She suddenly turned around to face him and he almost ran into her. "Mr. Allen! I'm a grown up woman, I can perfectly walk myself to my place, thank you." She snapped at him.

Barry lifted his hands in the air to show his surrender, too shocked about her change of mood to give her a proper reply. And with that, Caitlin turned back around and left the bar. He watched her get out and let his hands fall back down. What had just happened? It wasn't supposed to go like this, he wasn't supposed to screw his relationship with Caitlin this soon.


	6. Reality Or Fiction?

"So, you're not really dating her?"

Barry and Iris were at Jitters, two days later, having a cup of coffee. He had decided to tell his best friend everything. He had no news from Caitlin since she had stormed out of the bar and he really needed someone to talk to. And it couldn't hurt that this someone was a girl. Maybe Iris could explain Caitlin's behaviour.

"No, we were just pretending."

Iris shook her head. "But why would you do that?"

"I really have no clue … it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Fake dating is never a good idea. I thought watching all those teenage chick flicks when we were in high school would have taught you one or two things. I guess I was wrong."

Barry glowered at her. "You're not being very helpful here."

"Sorry, please continue your story."

"Thanks. So now I haven't talked to her since and I don't know what I should do …"

Iris waited a bit before giving him a reply. "Well, the best thing is probably to go talk about it with her. You know, to see her side of the story."

"What if she turns me into ice?"

Iris almost choked on her coffee. "What?!" Barry waved his hand, dismissing his own comment, so she decided to ignore it. "I don't think she was against your whole charade, because she would have said something if that was the case."

"Yeah, your probably right." Barry mumbled.

"Oh come on, stop being grumpy Bar! No one said it would be easy … Go talk to her and then you need to report back to me." When Barry shot her a questioning look, she continued. "What? I'm curious about where this little thing is going."

He shrugged and took a sip of coffee.

Iris had rarely seen her best friend in such a state. She had seen him sad, desperate, depressed, and a lot of other things. But she didn't know the _feeling-blue-because-of-a-girl-Barry_ very well. She had to take him out of this kind of trance. "Now can we please talk about that project you wanted to help me with, for my article?"

* * *

Cisco was just entering S.T.A.R. labs when a small white-greenish car pulling over in their official parking lot, caught his eyes. He immediately recognized Caitlin's Fiat 500, so he got out to wait for his friend at the entrance.

"Caitlin! Where have you been? I haven't seen you yesterday." He said when she was within earshot.

"Sorry Cisco, I wasn't feeling well."

The young man nodded knowingly. "Had a bit too much to drink?"

She smiled and showed him a small space between her thumb and index finger to represent a little. They went together to their workspace. After a few minutes of silence, Cisco couldn't keep it in anymore. "So when were you intending to tell me about you and Barry?"

Caitlin went still, but she knew he wouldn't drop it. So she told him everything. And it felt nice to get it off her chest. Cisco let her finish without interrupting, one finger tapping on his lower lip.

"And the other night, I don't know why, I just snapped at him, like he was the bad guy." She said, shaking her head in despair.

"Well, I think you're more angry at yourself for letting this happen then at him. But you don't know how to handle it, so you're taking it out on him."

Caitlin looked surprised, like he had hit home with his explanation. "Since when do you have a psychology degree?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Nah, I don't. I just watch a lot of TV shows and read fanfiction in my free time."

Caitlin smirked. "Maybe you're right." She chewed on her lower lip. "But I don't know why."

He searched her face for any residual anger. Seeing none, he tested his theory. "Maybe you accepted the lie because you wanted to draw Ronnie's attention. And you're angry at yourself because you think you don't want his attention."

"That's ridiculous! I'm over Ronnie, I moved on with my life."

Cisco shrugged. "It doesn't seem like it."

She glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Look, I'm not an expert on love. But I think, in order to move on from Ronnie, you actually have to move on …" He looked a her knowingly, throwing a small smile before turning around to his desk, leaving his friend lost in her thoughts.

* * *

Barry was walking in circles in his room. What was he supposed to do? He had a whole speech for Caitlin in his head, to explain his actions. He wanted to tell her that he was just trying to help her. But mainly, he wanted to apologize. Because everything he did, he never once asked her for her opinion. He needed her to understand that he cared about her.

He stopped walking, watched his phone on his bed where a text message was ready to be sent. But he couldn't do it, he was too afraid and it was probably best to talk face to face. She was giving him the cold shoulder and he wanted to see her, to gain back the friendship they had. He knew their relationship wasn't completely screwed, but it felt like it to him.

He took his phone, deleted his message and instead wrote something to Cisco.

" _Is Caitlin still at work?_ "

A few minutes later, he jumped when the reply came. " _Nope, she left early today. Which is odd."_

Barry frowned. Well, there went his plan to go pick her up at work. It was strange that she wasn't there anymore. Caitlin was the kind of person married to her job. She barely missed a day of work, was never late and never left early. Well, almost never apparently.

He quickly wrote " _Thanks_ " to Cisco, threw his phone back on his bed. He soon followed it and sprawled himself on his mattress. What the hell was going on? Iris's voice was echoing in his head. _"Well, the best thing is probably to go talk about it with her. You know, to see her side of the story."_

How was he supposed to talk to her if he couldn't see her? Maybe he just needed to go see Iris and talk a bit more about it. He was about to do it when he received another text from Cisco.

" _You should go to her place, you know where she lives right? We dropped her off one time._

_P.S: She likes Italian food."_

Barry's face lighted up. He had completely forgotten that one time were they had stayed out a bit too late and the two of them had insisted to accompany her. He had never thought about going directly there without asking her. But it seemed the best option right now.

Quickly, he wrote back. " _Thanks man, you're the best_."

Barry changed into a pair of jeans and one of his favourites button up shirt before heading out. On his way to her place, he dropped by the best little Italian Trattoria he knew, to take out something to eat. Twenty minutes later, he was just in front of her door. He had been able to enter the building without ringing her because he had helped an old woman that lived there, with her groceries.

He took a deep breath, straightening his shirt and, finally, knocked lightly three times on her door. He heard a few steps coming before the door opened.

"Barry? What are you doing here?" Caitlin was wearing shorts and a S.T.A.R. labs sweatshirt. It was completely different from what she was normally wearing. It looked cute.

"I thought we could talk. And I brought food." He lifted his arm to show her the take out bag.

A small smile formed on her lips before throwing a quick glance behind her. A dreadful feeling sank in his stomach. She was probably searching an excuse to refuse his offer and he already felt disappointed. But what came after that was worse than what he thought.

Behind Caitlin, he heard another pair of steps coming from her apartment. A few seconds later, someone else appeared right beside her, putting his jacket on and carrying a backpack.

"Hey Barry, how are you?"

There, right before Barry, with a self-satisfied grin on his face, was Ronnie standing.


	7. The Talk

Barry looked back and forth between Ronnie and Caitlin, both standing side by side on her doorstep. Ronnie was still smiling at him, one arm on the door almost like it was around Caitlin's shoulders. Barry looked back at her. She was flushed and was looking at the floor. He couldn't decide if her shade of red was due to gilt, embarrassment, or shyness.

The only thing Barry knew was that he should have called before dropping by unannounced. It would have saved him this awful feeling he had in his stomach right now.

"Sorry, I didn't know you two had a date night. I was leaving anyway." Ronnie looked at Caitlin. "Thanks for the stuff Cait." He winked at her and then turned back towards Barry. "It was nice seeing you Barry. We should definitely go out sometimes again, last time was fun."

Barry and Caitlin both nodded and watched Ronnie leave, in silence. Barry looked back at Caitlin when her ex boyfriend was gone. He felt suddenly angry, like he had caught her cheating on him. He knew he shouldn't feel like this. Caitlin wasn't his girlfriend; he had no right to be angry. But he was. And on top of that, jealousy showed itself. He could feel his jaw clenching and his whole body tensing up.

She still wasn't looking at him directly, but she opened her front door wider. "You want to come in?"

"Sure." Barry followed her inside. She showed him the way to her couch. He dropped the food on the small table in front of the TV. She left for about two minutes to fetch glasses and some water. While she was gone, he looked around, observing her living room. There were a few photos of her family, a lot of books and some small plants. Next to her couch were two pictures frames; one with a group photo in front of the S.T.A.R. labs and the other one was turned face down. Making sure Caitlin wasn't about to come into the room, Barry lifted the frame to see the photo it was protecting. It was a portrait of her and Ronnie. A rush a questions flowed his brain. But before he could search for any answers, he heard Caitlin come back, so he quickly put the frame back were it had been, face looking down.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

Barry looked at her with disbelieve. How could she pretend nothing had happened?

"For real?! Well, last time we saw each other, you left a bit angry, remember?"

She nodded. "Right, sorry about that, I had a bit too much to drink."

"That's alright. What I really want to talk about is the fake dating we are doing in front of our friends."

Catlin flushed at the mention. But before she could say anything, Barry talked again. "I'm sorry for my behaviour. I know I should've asked you before pretending to be your boyfriend. But obviously, it makes you angry, so we should probably stop before it goes out of control."

Her head shot up and her eyes finally met his since Ronnie left. "What? No we can't stop now."

"Why not? You obviously still have feelings for Ronnie and he for you … What am I supposed to do in the middle of this game?" His voice rose a bit. "I don't want to ruin our new friendship over some game you play with your ex."

Caitlin had the decency to look a bit ashamed. "We're not playing any game." She murmured.

She was acting so calm and he could feel the fire burn inside of him, which was to complete opposite of their personalities. She was usually the more passionate one and he was supposed to be calm.

"Well, tell that to Ronnie. He seemed quite satisfied coming out of your apartment with that smirk of his." He pointed to the frame he had in his hands a few moments ago. "And turning a photo down doesn't make feelings disappear." It was out before he could stop himself from talking. He was now acting out of pure jealousy and he sounded mean.

"What is that supposed to mean? Nothing happened with Ronnie today. And that picture is none of your business!" Now she was acting angrier, standing up from the couch and raising her voice too. "I didn't sleep with Ronnie, if that's what you were implying. Who do you take me for?!"

"Well, I don't know … What am I supposed to think about it?"

"Nothing at all! You have no right to come here and tell me how to behave."

Barry sobered up. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm not your boyfriend and that's why I think we should stop pretending like I am."

Caitlin sat back on the couch next to him. "Ronnie just came back to take some stuff he had left here when we broke up. Nothing happened and I don't want anything to happen either." She looked down at her hands. Her voice was calm again, very soft. "I'm really trying to move on, but he's not letting me. I love that picture because it holds a lot of good memories. But the mere sight of it hurts, so I turned it down."

Barry could see a tear roll down her cheek. "Hey there, it's going to be alright, I'm right here." He put one arm around her shoulders and she buried her face in his neck, silently sobbing. "It will get better, you just need some time." He said softly, stroking her hair.

After a few minutes of silence, she extracted herself from his arms. "You brought food, right?"

Barry grinned and took out the Italian food he had bought. Her face lighted up when she saw what kind of food it was, murmuring "My favourite".

After finishing their food, they settled back down on her couch with a beer. Barry watched his bottle with a contemplative look. "I'm sorry about earlier."

Caitlin glanced at him and smiled. "You already apologised."

"Still, I overreacted."

"It shows that you care, and I really appreciate it."

Barry glanced back at her to see her eyes still fixed on him. He could see so much into them. There was pain, but also joy and curiosity. And he could not quite look away from them. He thought he could stay like this forever. But they still hadn't solved their problem. "Anyway, I still think the whole fake dating is a bad idea. Even if I started it." He added when he saw she was about to retaliate.

"You're probably right. But we can't break up now."

"Why not?"

"Because! First, we'll have to pretend being mad at each other and we won't be able to hang out together like before."

Barry smiled. "You know, not everyone has big fights before breaking up …"

"Still, people will get uncomfortable if they hang out with us, thinking we don't get along anymore."

"You have a point. And while I want to break up, I still want to be your friend." He joked and Caitlin let out a clear and soft laugh that sounded like music to his hears.

"Second, I don't want Ronnie to think we broke up today, after his visit."

Barry groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "You've got a point. It really looked like you had just cheated on me."

She looked apologetically at him. "That's my third point. I don't want you or me to be the bad guy in this story."

Barry sighed. "And admitting it was all fake is kind of embarrassing."

"Plus, everyone will think I did it to get back at Ronnie."

They both stayed silent for a few minutes, sipping their beer. They were in some kind of dead end. On one hand, they couldn't keep pretending they were dating, and on the other hand, everything would change if they told the truth.

"So if we are really going to do this, we have to settle a few crucial points." Barry finally said after a long moment of silence. "Like how we met or how long we've been together, to avoid some awkward situation. We need a story, you know?"

"I see what you're talking about. And there has to be some boundaries. I don't intend to actually act like a couple."

Barry's eyes went wide open. "Of course not! It never crossed my mind. We won't overdue our public display of affection." He winked at her.

Caitlin looked gratefully at him. They began inventing their story together. How they met at work when CCPD temporally joined their forces with the S.T.A.R. labs for an investigation. How Barry had immediately asked her out for a drink and how they soon began dating. They were making themselves memories, little story they could tell their friends. And while doing so, they had a lot of fun.

Time flew by for the rest of the night, both of them still sitting on Caitlin's couch. She had brought ice cream from her freezer and he had put some background music. At some point, Caitlin ended lying on the couch with her head on his knees while he was coming up with new anecdotes he had really lived, trying to include her in his memory. They soon had invented a whole new life for the past few months.

Barry left just after midnight when he saw how late it was. They were both relieved their friendship was still in place, stronger even. They had no idea what mess they were putting themselves in.


	8. Heat And Water

"So, you're really doing this?"

Barry looked around him one more time and nodded. It was now or never, he had to do it.

"Barry, don't! It's crazy, you're going to hurt yourself."

He looked back towards the voice, worry plastered on the face of its owner. A few more words and he knew he wouldn't do it. There was no way he was going to do something reckless if she continued telling him it was a bad idea. But the kid inside of him desperately wanted to do it. He had measured the risks; he knew it was safe enough. Still, he hesitated.

He looked back again. "Don't worry Cait, everything is going to be alright. The others did it already."

She couldn't help herself from frowning some more, the doctor inside her wanting him to be as far away from any kind of danger as possible. She convinced herself that the flutter of heart was due to him being near danger and not a reaction to him calling her Cait. It was probably both anyway. "Well, its not because the others are idiots that you have to act like one to be part of the group. You're smarter than that."

Barry smiled at her comment. He took a bottle of fresh water and poured some water on his hand to wet his neck and shoulders, to prevent from going into a thermal shock. He winked at Caitlin as he gave her the bottle back. He stood straighter, looked down and jumped.

Caitlin gasped, ran to the edge of the small cliff Barry had just jumped from and looked down just in time to hear him scream "Yiiihaaaaa" and see him dive into the river. He surfaced a few moments later and Caitlin released the breath she had been unconsciously holding. She heard different victory roars from down there and shook her head.

It was Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks after their talk at her apartment. They had met with Cisco, Iris, Eddie, Ronnie and his friends a few more times and today the whole gang had decided to spend the day out at the river. The weather was beautiful and the coolness of the water was really appreciated. They had left early in the morning to enjoy themselves all day long.

Caitlin found her way back to the others down to the river by jumping from one small rock to another, taking the same path they had taken to go up there. When she arrived, Barry was just getting out of the water. Cisco and Ronnie were cheering and a big smile was plastered on Barry's face. She rolled her eyes at them and joined Iris. She was currently talking with a few people they had met through Ronnie. They were all forming a nice group of friends now.

Caitlin had never really had such a group surrounding her. Sure she had friends growing up and during her college years, but never more then four or five people. So it was pretty much new to her, the whole gang thing. Nevertheless, she had grown attached to the new people coming into her life. Especially Barry. But also Ronnie's friends. She had already met his cousin, Oliver Queen, when she had been dating Ronnie. At that time, she found him cold and arrogant. Today, she thought he was lighter; he even smiled from time to time. Caitlin was pretty sure it was due to his new girlfriend Felicity Smoak, which she found adorable.

Oliver's little sister, Thea, was also there with her boyfriend Roy Harper. The latter was currently in the river doing a water fight with John Diggle, Eddie and Laurel Lance.

"So, you didn't jump?"

Caitlin turned her attention back towards Iris and Felicity.

"Nope, I'm not a fan of cliff jumping." Caitlin answered.

Iris nodded. "Me neither. But I never thought Barry would do it."

"My guess is that he wanted to impress Cait." Felicity said smiling and Caitlin flushed at the comment.

Trying to change the subject, the young doctor proposed to dip their feet into the water. The three girls sat on a rock, their feet hanging in the air and barely touching the river. While the others were playing in the water or wandering around on the rocks, they stayed there talking about everything and nothing.

"So I heard that a new bar opened downtown not long ago. And apparently, their karaoke nights are awesome. What do you girls think about it?" Felicity asked.

"Oh that would be so fun! We should go one of these days." Iris said.

Caitlin snickered. "Well, I'm a terrible singer, so you can count me out. But it could be fun watching all of you singing."

"If you think we'll let you go home without singing, then you're dreaming." Said Felicity.

"If we're going, then we're all going through with it." Iris emphasised.

Iris and Felicity were trying to convince her to sing when Caitlin felt two strong arms around her waist. She had barely time to react before she was pushed directly into the water. She could feel someone fall with her, both arms still around her. A few seconds later, she surfaced, talking a big gulp of air.

"It's freezing!" she shrieked.

She heard someone surface just behind her and burst into laughter at her reaction. She immediately recognized the owner of that laugh. She turned around, wearing her most disapproving look, but failed to keep it straight when she saw Barry laughing so much that he could barely keep his head out of the water. His hair was dishevelled and drops of water were falling from it. Caitlin gasped, finding that look very attractive, but she hid her reaction as soon as she realised it. She put her hands on his shoulders and put her weight on him to push his head underwater. He was laughing so much that he immediately sunk into the water. She released him to put her feet on his shoulder this time, sinking him further. Proud of her revenge, she backed away to let him surface in peace. When his head came out of the water, a big grin was still on his face.

"Barry Allen! A real rascal." She tried to adopt a serious tone but Barry just laughed louder at her comment. Caitlin faked a hurtful face and he just took her by the waist with his arms and hugged her, still chuckling. She put her arms around his neck and grinned, hugging him back. She could hear the others laugh too at Barry's antics.

"You're an idiot." She whispered in his ear. She felt him shiver. She didn't know if it was because of the water's temperature or the fact that she was clinging to him and breathing on his neck. Either way, a sense of pride engulfed her. Little by little, he let her go and they swam to the shore to join the others. They all ate together at the water's edge, sharing stories and laughs.

* * *

It was about three in the afternoon when Caitlin found herself with Barry sitting in silence on some rock a bit distant from the rest of the group. Their feet were dipping into the water and Caitlin was drawing random patterns between both of them with her fingers on the rock.

"Barry, can I ask you something?" she finally asked timidly.

He lightly turned his face towards her. "Sure, what is it?"

"I was wondering … what happened to your parents?" She immediately felt him tense up so she quickly added, "You don't have to tell me about it. I just realised you never talked about them."

He stayed silent for a few moments, during which Caitlin feared his reaction. He played with his fingers without looking at her. Finally, he looked back up at her. "They both died in a car accident when I was just a kid. A drunk driver ran into their car. They were having a night out for themselves and I was staying at Joe's." he took a deep breath. "I was pissed off that they were leaving me for the night, I barely said goodbye to them." He shook his head, looking at the water. "We received the call in the middle of the night. My mom died instantly but my dad stayed in a coma during 9 months. But he didn't make it."

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Yeah … Sorry, it's not a great story for such an amazing afternoon." He sighed.

"Well, I'm glad you told me about it." She put an arm around his shoulder and brought him closer. He rested his head on her shoulder, his eyes hiding in the crook of her neck. She could feel a few tears trailing down on her skin, so she put her hands around his head, hugging him tighter and playing with his hair. It felt like they stayed in this position for a long time. It could have been 2 minutes like it could have been 3 hours. They didn't know and didn't care. They both felt safe around each other and closer.

In a few weeks, Barry had gained her trust so quickly it was almost unbelievable. She was someone very guarded, and trusting someone wasn't something she did easily. At the same time, she had gained his trust too and that was something she would cherish for all the time that was given to her.

From across the river, Ronnie was looking at them, a frown on his face. He was losing his grip on Caitlin; he could feel it. He liked Barry, but he still considered Caitlin as his. Sure, he had screwed things up when he had left her. But he intended on getting her back. He was patient, he just had to make sure Barry and Caitlin broke up. Soon.


	9. Karaoke Night

Caitlin was pulling on her black dress while walking in the streets. She couldn't help herself thinking her dress was too short and she wasn't very comfortable wearing it. The dress had fit just fine when she had tried it on, a few days ago, in the shop with Felicity. But now, she wasn't so sure anymore. It felt like it was ridding up her hips at every step she took. And she could sense a few misplaced looks from strangers on the streets that were making her more uncomfortable.

Fortunately, she was almost there. The new bar Felicity had talked about was just around the block. She glanced at her watch and walked a little faster. She had been stuck at work longer than intended and knew the others were already waiting for her. Before meeting Barry, being late what something she never was. Today, it seemed to occur more and more often.

She turned around the corner and immediately spotted the bar a few feet away from her. She could already hear the music beating inside and the muffled sound of someone singing (in tune or not, she couldn't quite figure out yet). She was dreading the moment she'd have to step on the stage to sing too. Caitlin was a shy person, someone discreet. She wasn't used to perform in front of an audience (she preferred the anonymity of her bathroom and singing for her shower). She quickly fixed her hair with one hand, her dress with the other one and pulled the front door of the bar.

She was immediately overwhelmed with sounds and lights. It took her a few seconds and more eye blinks to adjust to her surroundings. She spotted her friends all sitting at a table in one corner (well, she spotted Felicity with her arms in the air, hopping around in rhythm with the music). She hadn't seen them in a while. The past three weeks at work had been crazy. She hadn't been able to go out with the gang, except that one time where she went shopping with Felicity. She was excited about tonight, a bit nervous, but in a good way. She ignored the way her heartbeat sped up at the thought of seeing Barry again. Since she met him, it was the first time she had gone three weeks without seeing him, and she didn't like it very much. She was now used to seeing him regularly. Caitlin smiled and found her way through the crowd by zigzagging between people.

She found most of her friends sitting at a table while Felicity was trying to convince Oliver to dance (which wasn't an easy task). They all turned towards her when Iris saw her. "Caitlin! You cleaned up very nice tonight! Right Bar?" she said while elbowing Barry in the ribs. The latter was talking with Cisco and hadn't turned around immediately. But when he did look at Caitlin, his breath got caught in his throat. He went still for a moment, staring at her, his mouth wide open. The young doctor felt a shiver running up her spine and blushed.

Cisco quietly snickered and pushed Barry forward. "Well don't stand here like an idiot and go greet your girlfriend like you should."

Barry shook his head and stood up to stand next to Caitlin. He smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to act under the stare of all his friends, while still gathering his thoughts about her looks. He put his arm around her waist, giving her a side hug and leaned to kiss her delicately on her cheek. They both felt the scrutiny look Ronnie threw their way.

"I'm the one who helped her choose the dress." Felicity bragged. Everyone laughed and the attention eased off Caitlin and Barry (which relieved both of them).

Barry turned his head towards Caitlin, his arm still around her waist. She pretended not feeling his stare by laughing at something Eddie said. After a few seconds, Barry moved his head closer to her ear and whispered something that made her whole body shiver. "You do look very beautiful."

Before she could answer or thank him, he disappeared in the crowd. She gave herself a minute, to calm her shivers still running up her body, before joining her friends and the conversation. And to have a drink. Because right now, she really needed one.

* * *

"No way!"

"Oh come on, Caitie! You promised … For meeee …"

Felicity was _that_ close to going on her knees to beg her friend to go on stage. "You said you'd do it."

"Well, I changed my mind. Beside, I don't think I had enough to drink to sing in front of you guys."

"I'm sure you've had enough." Barry took her drink from her hand, as she was about to take another gulp of it.

"Heeey!" she protested and tried to take her drink back but Barry lifted it higher so she couldn't reach it. She gave up, crossed her arms across her chest and pouted. "Fine, but Barry's coming with me on stage." She threw a defying look at him.

"For real?!"

Before Barry could stand up for himself, Felicity jumped from joy and clapped her hands together. "Of course he's going to sing with you. Perfect! Go on you two."

Barry shook his head. "I'm not much of a singer. And you're not much of a drinker …" He mumbled. But he followed Caitlin anyway, who seemed eager all of a sudden. Everybody cheered for them when they got on stage. Caitlin quickly chose the song without asking him.

He stood awkwardly on stage, under the stare of the crowd, waiting for the music. Caitlin came up to him smiling. "We're going to bring this place down." She said giggling. The song began and he instantly recognized the melody.

" _Summer lovin' had me a blast"_

Barry raised his eyebrows and the corner of his lips lifted themselves up. She wasn't really in tune but she was so enthusiastic, hopping around, that it was contagious.

" _Summer lovin' happened so fast"_

He could hear a few chuckles from the crowd, but it wasn't mean. They had heard worse tonight. Beside, he couldn't help thinking she sounded precious.

" _I met a girl crazy for me"_

It was Caitlin's turn to raise her eyebrows as she turned towards him when he began singing. His voice was so flawless that her movements became hazier.

" _Met a boy cute as can be"_

Her voice was more uncertain too. She was wondering how she could continue singing so out of tune beside him. She frowned and stopped moving entirely. But he seemed oblivious to her reaction, his eyes fixed on the TV screens showing the lyrics.

" _Summer days drifting away"_

That's when he realised that she wasn't really following him anymore. So he made a circle movement with his left arm to tell her to continue.

" _To, uh oh, those summer nights"_

Caitlin immediately began dancing again, not worrying about her voice anymore. All that mattered was the two of them, on stage, having fun. And his smile. Something similar was happening in Barry's mind. He had been reluctant about coming up on stage. But now any doubt left was gone. The crowd was cheering; he could see Iris, Cisco, Eddie and Felicity dancing and everything was right in the world.

* * *

"Not much of a singer, uh?" Caitlin lifted her chin up, daring him to contradict her. Barry just shrugged as they sat back at their table.

"You guys were amazing! You should do a record together." Felicity immediately said when they joined them.

"Sure, that's a brilliant idea." Caitlin snickered. "The only thing to do would be cutting out my voice from the song and it would be a summer hit."

"Don't be so harsh on yourself Caitlin, we thought you sounded great." Eddie commented. The bio-engineer looked gratefully at the blond detective.

The Karaoke night was coming to its end. But the bar wasn't closing. While the staff was putting all the karaoke equipment aside, a DJ was setting his things up. Three songs in and Laurel was convincing everyone to go on the dance floor. Caitlin stood up, carried away by the euphoria of the crowd and the good music, took Barry's hand and led him towards the centre of the mass. Barry barely protested, carried away too by the good mood.

The music was first frantic and everyone was close to one another. But soon it calmed down, a few people left the dance floor, couples came nearer. It came naturally to Barry to take Caitlin by the waist and bring her closer. She didn't say anything, just smiled as she crossed her hands behind his neck.

He saw her glance behind him with a frown and a sad look on her face. While dancing, he managed to turn them around and he finally saw what had achieved to diminish her good mood. Not far away, Ronnie was dancing with Linda, very close to one another. Ronnie glanced at them, a smug expression on his face. Barry looked back directly into Caitlin eyes. She raised hers timidly, ashamed of being caught.

He tried to use his softest voice. "You're not the one who should be jealous." He paused, taking a deep breath. "He's the one supposed to be jealous of me."

She raised her eyebrows from surprise. "And why is that?" she asked seriously.

Barry didn't know if it was the alcohol running through his system (even if he wasn't drunk), or the euphoria piling up since the beginning of the evening (basically since she came through that door), or even the fact that he was the one jealous because she was looking at another man (seriously, she's supposed to be his girlfriend); that made him say what was on his mind. "Because I'm the one who has the most beautiful girl in the room in my arms."

Caitlin gasped at his comment. All of a sudden, her dress didn't seem too short anymore; it seemed a perfect fit. The way Barry was looking at her was worth every second of discomfort she had felt before. She barely registered when he leaned towards her and gently placed his lips on hers. Too shocked to answer at first, the kiss was soft but awkward. "You're going to sell us out if you just stand there." He whispered against her lips.

She gathered her thoughts together, put her hands firmly around his neck and pulled him towards her with conviction. She crashed her lips against his and he immediately responded to her kiss, getting a firmer grip on her lower back. The kiss deepened, but neither knew which one of them initiated the increasing of intensity. So much tension was releasing itself in it, they were both elated.

They didn't know how long the kiss lasted, but it came the time to come up for air. They looked at each other, breathlessly and they both laughed, eyes crinkling. "Ronnie's loosing, the ball is in your court now." Barry said.

Caitlin just nodded, hiding her disappointment. Because apparently, Barry had kissed her to get back at Ronnie, and not because he had wanted to. They stayed like this, forehead against forehead, for a few seconds until Barry talked again. "Well now that this is done, we should probably move. Not that you're something to be done, like on a 'to do list' … but I don't want us to get awkward … so we shouldn't just stand there … and now I'm rambling again and …"

Caitlin shook her head smiling, put a finger on his lips, pulled on his arm with her other hand and began swinging in rhythm. "Shut up and dance with me." She said. Barry stopped talking, mesmerized by the woman in front of him and followed her, smiling.


	10. I Need Some Sleep

A few songs later, Barry and Caitlin left the dance floor to join their friends, both of their hearts still fluttering, but neither of them daring to act further on their still new and unknown feelings. She excused herself to go to the bathroom with Iris while Barry went to get a drink for himself. As he was trying to order a drink, some girl came up to him. "Has anyone told you that you have a really nice voice?"

Barry raised his eyebrow, looking at the young woman whose position was clearly telling him she was flirting with him. "Thanks. I'm Barry." He put his hand forward.

"Nice to meet you, Barry." She replied, rolling seductively the "r" in his name and shook his hand. "I'm Olivia."

Barry didn't brush her aside but continued the conversation for a bit. She was still flirty but he was only friendly so that she didn't get any ideas about where this was going. What he didn't see, was the opportunity Ronnie saw in this situation.

As Caitlin came back from de restroom, she didn't notice right away what was happening. She sat back at their table with Iris. "It looks like Barry caught the eyes of one pretty lady." She heard Ronnie tell Linda a few moments later. She's not sure if she was supposed to hear this (or if anyone beside Linda and her had heard it), but her head immediately turned towards the bar where she saw Barry speaking with a stranger. She tried not to pay attention to how close to him she was standing. But she could already feel that it was bothering her.

Caitlin couldn't take her eyes off them. She could hear how the stranger was giggling at something Barry had just said, she could see how she leaned closer to him and the young doctor felt nauseous. They had their backs towards her and were both looking at something in the woman's hand. Caitlin couldn't quite see what it was.

"It takes guts to flirt with someone right in front of his girlfriend." Ronnie continued, still talking to Linda. Caitlin looked around her and it appeared that no one besides Ronnie, Linda and her had seen what Barry was up to. She turned back towards Barry just in time to see the stranger take her phone from were it had been laying a few moments ago. The young woman waved goodbye at Barry and turned around to disappear in the crowd.

Caitlin's mood went downhill from there. So everything had really been just a charade to him. He had been playing with her all night and now that a more interesting woman was around, he wasn't willing to play anymore. " _How could he do this to her?_ " she thought. She couldn't get attached to him like this (even if it was probably too late to prevent that). She wouldn't survive another heartbreak.

When she saw Barry coming back to their table, she quickly claimed to be tired and left the bar. She barely said goodbye to everyone. Caitlin wasn't feeling well at all. First, she had been drinking a bit too much tonight. Second, seeing Barry with that young woman had really turned her emotions upside down. Third, the combination of first and second was a bad idea. Eddie had offered her a ride home, but she had kindly refused, claiming that she needed the fresh air to sober up.

As she was walking down the street, she heard footsteps running behind her. At first, she didn't pay much attention to them. But then, she heard someone calling and she couldn't ignore it anymore. "Cait! Wait up!"

The sound of Barry's voice, and the alcohol running through her system, made her miss a step. She would've fallen to the ground if two strong arms hadn't closed around her just in time. "Wow, careful there, Cait. You don't want to break your pretty nose because of a drunken fall." Barry said chuckling.

Everything in her head was messed up right now. She couldn't think straight when he was so close to her, when she could smell him so distinctively, when he was calling her "Cait" and when his laugh was so genuine. Barry saw her lack of response as a sign of drunkenness, so he put his arm around her waist and began walking with her. "Come on, I'm bringing you home. A big glass of water and a warm bed are waiting for you there." She shivered and he immediately took his jacket off to put it on her shoulders. She nodded gratefully at him as she snuggled into it.

"Sooo ... who was that girl you were talking to at the bar?" She asked timidly after a few moments of silence.

"Oh ... that was Olivia. She was nice and gave me her number."

Caitlin ignored the pinch she felt in her heart and asked one more question. "And? Are you going to call her?"

He didn't answer right away. "I don't know yet."

The rest of the way was spent in silence and they quickly arrived at her apartment. As soon as she stepped into her bedroom, she shed Barry's jacket on the floor.

"Let's get you into bed" he suggested.

She nodded and began undressing just in front of him. He immediately turned around, rubbing his neck with his hand. He heard her struggle with her dress as she whimpered. "Hum ... a little help, please?" He glanced at her over his shoulder and saw that her dress was stuck around her hip and that her torso was only covered with her bra. His heart missed a beat and he looked straight back in front of him. Following her here had been a very bad idea, he thought. She was just a friend, and on top of that, she was still heartbroken because of Ronnie.

But then, he could feel her pouting at his back and he knew he had to do something to help her. He looked around him, saw her pyjama lying on her bed, took the top, closed his eyes, went blindly behind her and tried to put it on her quickly. She giggled as he missed her head.

"Opening your eyes won't kill you, you know?" she commented.

He flushed as he shyly opened one eye after another. Right in front of him was Caitlin's bare back. He swallowed hard, chasing any sinful ideas from his mind and put her pyjama top on her. _"Just a friend. Just a friend. A very good friend. Who loves Ronnie."_ He was repeating to himself in his head. She helped him by putting her arms in the air. The top was loose and immediately covered her torso and hips, and it was now effectively hiding the view.

"I'm going to get your dress off now." He announced like a TV broadcaster.

Carefully, he put both hands around her hips, under her pyjama top. He was tense as he tried to find the zip fastener that would allow her dress to fall at her feet on its own. After two painfully awkward tries, the dress finally fell to the ground. Barry let out a bit puff of air, relieved that it was almost over. He gave Caitlin her pyjama pants that she swiftly put on.

"Thank you, for saving me from that evil dress." She said theatrically. He chuckled and led her towards her bed to tuck her in. "Did you sneak a peak at my goods?" She pointed at him accusatively.

"Nope, I was standing behind you all the time." He said, way too quickly to be completely honest. But she didn't seem to notice it.

She went on her bed and then said something that made his heart rate pick up a faster pace. "Well, we kissed, so you would've had the right to look. I wouldn't have minded." She mumbled, her voice dripping with sleepiness and alcohol.

He shook is head and helped her with her bed cover. "You need a good night sleep so you can say normal things again." he said with a chuckle.

He was about to get up to leave when a soft voice stopped him right where he was (in the middle of standing up). "Hey Barry? Will you stay until I fall asleep?" She seemed so vulnerable and scared that he couldn't say no. He didn't have the strength to fight the pull she had on him.

He sat back on the bed, put his hand on her hip and began stroking. "Yeah, sure. Of course I'll stay. Don't worry, I'm right here. Go to sleep."

She looked gratefully at him, snuggled further in her covers and closed her eyes. A few moments after, her breathing became regular and she was fast asleep. Barry was tempted to slide on the other side of the bed, to snuggle and sleep next to her. But he decided against it. It wasn't a good idea; she would probably freak out in the morning and put her walls around her up again. Plus, he really needed to get his thoughts back together. He shouldn't feel this way towards Caitlin, it was a dangerous territory. So instead, he just softly kissed the crown of her hair and whispered. "Good night, Cait. Sweet Dreams."


	11. Plan In Motion

Life went on, neither Caitlin nor Barry talking about that kiss that had turned their world upside down, too afraid to lose the other one. Neither one of them thought their feelings were mutual. Both of them even had a hard time believing their own feelings were real. So they continued this little game of pretending when their friends were around. But without the gang around, it was another story.

While Caitlin was still trying to spend time just with Barry even out of their time with the gang, Barry seemed more reluctant about the two of them being alone together. It pained her to see him pulling back like that (always pretending to have something else to do when she was offering just a friendly movie night). Even the small physical contacts (that they always had in public) were getting rare. And the worse for Caitlin was, that she didn't know what had led to this change of behaviour.

She tried to remember that karaoke night, two weeks ago, to see if she had said something that would've triggered that distance he was putting between the two of them. But nothing seemed blindingly obvious to her. The morning after, she had even found a note, left by Barry, on the pillow next to her.

" _Morning Snowflake! Hope you had a good night sleep! Coffee is already prepared; you only have to press the 'on' switch. Don't drink too much of that stuff, water's supposed to be better when you're hung-over. I put your spare keys in your mailbox, in case you're looking for them. Have a nice day. See you soon! Barry Xx"_

That note had meant the world to her. She had felt lighter and happier than she had in a long time. She hadn't even needed more than a cup of coffee after that. That note was now neatly folded and hidden in her nightstand's drawer. But then everything had changed.

The other day, he had dropped by the S.T.A.R. labs to give some comics back to Cisco. She had tried to have a conversation with him, but he had answered to her questions only with monosyllabic words and the sad look haunting his eyes had dissuaded her to ask for more. She wanted him to talk to her (they were friends after all, that's what they're supposed to do when one of them isn't feeling good, right?) but something was telling her that he was trying to spare her. Like he didn't want to hurt her feelings. And she couldn't have any of that.

On top of that, Felicity and Iris had been acting weird lately. She felt like she was missing something. But Dr. Caitlin Snow was going to have her answers. She would put her foot down and demand some explanation.

That was the state of mind Caitlin was in, when she walked through the door from Jitters, where Felicity and Iris were waiting for her. Both of them were sitting at a small table in a corner. A small laptop was lying shut on the table, near two cups of coffee and a bottle of water. Caitlin quickly ordered a latte for herself and sat beside her friends.

Felicity wasn't her cheerful-self like usual, she had a sad look on her face and Iris seemed uncomfortable. Caitlin immediately felt a weight on her shoulder. She could sense that she was about to be delivered some bad news. In a matter of seconds, she had lost all her confidence to get answers to her questions; she didn't feel that brave anymore. Something was telling her that it was probably better to just get up again and leave Jitters right now. But she decided against it. Caitlin needed answers; she couldn't go on like that. It was too painful, like she was left out. She took a deep breath and finally said "Soo … What's up?"

Felicity shot a questioning look at Iris who nodded back. The young IT specialist drummed with her fingers on the laptop before looking right back at Caitlin. "Cait, you know I love you, right? You're one of my best friends." The doctor nodded, dreading what was coming next. "I want what's best for you." Felicity seemed lost all of a sudden, like she couldn't find the right words. She looked at her hands and played with one of her rings. "The other day, I saw that Barry was keeping his distance with you. You two didn't seem hand-in-hand like usual. So I couldn't help myself from investigating a little bit."

Caitlin froze, waiting for the rest of the story. Felicity shook her head, her eyes flew up to meet Caitlin's again and finally said what was on her mind. "I had some suspicions so I hacked into Barry's phone to see if something was funky."

Caitlin looked at her with big round eyes. She glanced at Iris, who was suddenly very interested by the notes on the back of her bottle of water. The doctor's attention went back to Felicity. "You did what?!"

"I swear it was an innocent act of snooping around. I wasn't going to tell anyone and nobody would've noticed anything." She tried to explain herself.

If looks could kill, Felicity would've been six feet underground right now. "So why are you telling me?" Caitlin asked sternly.

Felicity rubbed her hands on her skirt, took a deep breath and opened her laptop. She turned it around so that Caitlin could see what was on the screen. It took her a few minutes to understand what she was looking at. But when she did, she felt her heart falling to the ground and shattering into billions of pieces. On the screen, she could read various conversations between two people. They were obviously getting to know each other but there was no doubt about the intentions behind the texts messages. These two people were flirting. Hard.

"These are conversations between Barry and a girl named Olivia, that I found on his phone."

Caitlin glared at Felicity. "Like I didn't get it." She spat out.

"Look, Cait, don't kill the messenger. I'm doing this for you."

"Well, maybe I didn't want to know." Caitlin retorted.

Felicity sighed. "I don't believe you. You're not one to just ignore a problem at hand. Especially one as important as this one." She shook her head. "I never pegged Barry to be a cheater." Her voice was harsher.

"Oh come on! Barry's not a cheater." Iris suddenly intervened, defending her best friend.

"Whatever … He's clearly flirting with that girl. And that's not something you do when you have a girlfriend, especially one as cool, fun, smart and beautiful as Caitlin."

"There has to be some explanation to this. I know Barry, he would never do this to Caitlin."

"Maybe. Until then, I think Caitlin should break up with him before he goes too far and she gets really hurt."

"Right ... Like Barry would actually cheat on her ..."

The two friends continued bickering like that for a few minutes, not noticing that Caitlin had zoned out of the conversation. She was staring at the computer screen, trying to understand what was happening to her. Barry wasn't her boyfriend, so she shouldn't feel like he was betraying her with these conversations. Plus, they were pretty harmless (because they were _just_ friends). But she did. She should've known that it was all a bad idea, from the beginning. Barry had even tried to talk her out of it. And now she was falling from up high, because she hadn't listened to him.

Without a word further, she stood up and walked to the bathrooms. She put some water on her face and then put her hands on both sides of the sink. She raised her head to look at her reflection in the mirror. _"Well, Dr. Snow, you put yourself in a fine mess, didn't you?"_ she told herself.

Soon after, she heard the door open and Iris came standing next to her. She put a friendly hand on her back and met the doctor's eyes in the mirror.

"I'm sorry for Felicity's behaviour. I tried to talk her out of hacking into Barry's phone. I knew it wouldn't end well. But I couldn't find good enough arguments without telling her that you and Barry weren't really dating."

Caitlin let out a sad chuckle and turned to look directly at Iris. "Yeah, thanks."

"What are you going to do about it?" Iris asked. "You know that Felicity won't let it go."

"I know." Caitlin shook her head. "I guess that I need to talk to Barry about it."

"Please don't let him be the bad guy, okay? Because Felicity seems convinced that he is hurting you. And you know how Felicity is … She'll talk to Oliver about it and next, the whole gang will be on your side, leaving Barry alone. And I don't think he deserves it." Iris's tone left no doubt about which side she would choose. There was now way she would choose Caitlin over Barry.

"I'll do my best, I promise." She sighed.

They both left the restroom to join Felicity back a their table. Caitlin didn't sit and just said: "I'm not feeling well, I'm going home to deal with all of this." She showed the computer with her hand. "Thank you Felicity, for telling me. But next time, just don't snoop around what doesn't concern you, please."

Felicity sadly nodded. "I'm here for you, if you need anything."

Caitlin gave her a grateful look and left Jitters. The sky, that had been blue like the sea until now, was becoming greyer. A gush of wind blew her hair in her face. Storm was coming.

On her way to her car, she sent Barry a text.

_"We need to talk. Call me."_


	12. Set Fire To The Rain

The windscreen wipers of her car were going back and forth. It was almost mesmerizing to look at them, going from right to left and then right again, getting water out of the way. She couldn't stop staring at them (and it had been this way for the past ten minutes). She could hear the sound they were making, beating in her mind, so loud and regular that the pace of her heartbeat was an exact replica.

It was pouring rain outside and Caitlin was hiding in her car while waiting for Barry in front of the CCPD station. The storm had hit about three hours before and everyone had been a bit surprised by that change of weather. That morning, the sun had shone up high in the sky, and now, Caitlin was soaked (it had only taken about two minutes for her to get to her car, but it had been enough).

She laughed without humour. The weather was the perfect description of her mood right now. After talking to Iris and Felicity earlier today, she had gone immediately back to S.T.A.R. labs to work. A couple hours later, she had received a simple text from Barry.

" _I can't call you right now, it's a busy day at the station. Tomorrow?"_

Caitlin was fuming at the time. There he was again, dodging her. She immediately replied, too afraid to lose the opportunity to talk.

" _Can I pick you up at work? It's really important, and it can't wait until tomorrow."_

It took him about a minute to answer. _"Sure. I'll be out around 8 p.m."_

It was now 8:30, and there was still no sign of Barry outside of the police station. She could see the raindrops dance around her car's headlights, in rhythm with _"Set Fire to the Rain"_ from Adele. It was almost pathetic how everything seemed to exactly fit her state of mind. Caitlin shook her head and stopped the radio, effectively shutting the music off.

A knock on the passenger's window made her jump up in her seat. Through the curtain of rain, she could see Barry bent over to look into the car, a goofy smile on his face. She unlocked her car and suddenly, he was sitting next to her, his hair dripping on her car seat, laughing like a little kid.

"Well, that's a storm worthy of its name." he said. He had that smile on his face, that smile that could melt her heart, that smile that would heal any disease (if only…). That smile that could make her forget why she was mad.

No. He couldn't smile his way out of this.

"Stop."

Barry didn't hear her talk under the loud sound of rain falling around them. "I think it's a great way to end such a long day at work!"

"Barry ... stop." She whispered, looking straight ahead. He couldn't act 'Hot & Cold' like that with her.

"It's like the rain is washing away all the bad and hard things that happened today." He just went on.

"Barry! I said stop!" She suddenly yelled.

He froze out of shock, his mouth halfway opened, his big round eyes staring at her in disbelief.

"I just need you to stop for a second." She breathed out.

"What's going on Cait?" He asked immediately, ignoring her request to stop. His voice seemed genuinely worried. "What is so important that you couldn't wait tomorrow to talk about?"

She didn't say anything for a few moments, looking at her hands.

"I can't do this anymore." She finally whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"This whole fake dating thing. It has to stop."

He just chuckled. "You're kidding, right?"

Her head turned towards him, her eyes shooting ice daggers. "No, why would I be?!"

He immediately sobered up. "You're telling me, that you waited for me under the rain just to tell me that we have to stop fake dating? Don't tell me that it couldn't wait tomorrow. I won't believe you"

She shook her head. "Don't make this harder than it already is, Barry. I can't do this anymore, so please..."

"But why? I think I deserve some kind of explanation." He turned his whole body towards her, his eyes were pleading her for some answers.

"You're right. But I think you know why..." She just whispered, avoiding his deep green eyes.

"Absolutely not." He replied, curtly.

She finally met his eyes and she rolled hers dramatically. "Oh please, don't act like you don't know!"

"Cait ... what are you talking about?" He asked softly. There he was again, acting harsh one moment and sweet the next. Caitlin couldn't handle this kind of change; she couldn't go through another heartbreak.

So she got angry. He had to understand that he hadn't the right to just mess up with her. "Don't be a coward and just admit it ... I already know anyway."

"For real? You're calling _me_ a coward?!" His voice got higher, clearly showing that he was now angry too.

"What is that suppose to mean?!" She looked stunned, not believing what he was saying.

"Well you're the one who wanted to do this, to avoid a certain Mr. Raymond..." His voice was filled with accusations.

"Don't get him involved, he's got nothing to do with all of this!" Things were getting out of hands. They were totally deviating from the initial subject.

"I disagree, he's got everything to do with this. You're still so hung up on him that you don't even realise it! I let you use me to make him jealous, and that's okay because I agreed to it. But don't come here and tell me that he isn't involved." His smile was completely gone and a storm was forming itself in his eyes. She could almost see a lightning strike in them. He was angry but he seemed hurt too.

Caitlin choked, his words going right through her heart. "That's not the point Barry." She whispered. He heart was now beating way too fast, and breathing became harder for her. Without saying anything more, she got out of her car and began walking in the rain.

A few seconds later, she heard a car door shutting and someone running behind her to catch up. She didn't want him to join her; she needed space. But she soon felt a hand grab her arm and stopping her. Barry turned her around and held her by both of her arms. His hands were tense and he was almost hurting her. Caitlin's eyes flew up to meet his and got lost for a few seconds. His green eyes were pleading, his hair was dripping, his mouth was a thin line (but she could almost see his killer smile ghosting over his lips), and raindrops were running down his cheeks.

What wasn't there to like in this man?

 _Nothing_ , she thought.

"Cait… Come on… What's going on?"

He was just not _hers_ to have.

She felt tears slowly falling down her cheeks. "I'm setting you free." She whispered. She sincerely hoped he would mistake her tears for raindrops. She didn't want him to see how much it was affecting her.

He shook his head, not understanding. "What do you mean?" He whispered back, searching her face for more answers. His shirt was sticking to his body, some of his hair was hanging in front of his eyes, but he didn't care. They were soaked, and it didn't matter.

"I know about Olivia and the texts." She finally said. "You want to move on with her, but you can't because of your promise to me. So, Barry Allen, I'm setting you free. So that you can be happy with her."

Her statement didn't produce the guilty face she was waiting for. Instead, he seemed still clueless and lost. He frowned. "Cait… What are you talking about?"

She tried to get away from him but his grip on her just got tighter. "Please, don't make it harder than it already is."

She saw fire light up in his green eyes. He shook her a little, like he wanted to bring her out of a trance. "Let's talk about this, because I have honestly no idea what's going on right now."

"No Barry. I think we did enough talking. Please… Just let me go." She pleaded, shaking her head in despair. Tears were flowing down her face now; there was no way he wouldn't notice.

He must have seen her shiver, because suddenly, he seemed to realise that it was raining and that they were soaked to the bones. His grip on her eased off until he let her go. He put his hands in the air in surrender. "Okay, I give up. We're done. I really hope you didn't do this for Ronnie." He let out a sad chuckle that sent a shudder down her spine that had nothing to do with the weather. "You're freezing, you should go home before you catch a cold." He said with concern.

Caitlin nodded at him and took off without giving him a last glance. He heard something close to a whimper as she got in her car. He watched her drive away. He stood there, rubbing his neck with hand.

"This isn't over Cait. I won't give up on you so easily." He said, standing there alone, under the rain, his heart beating way _way_ too fast.


	13. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Like every time life was getting hard on her, Caitlin just dove in and hid under loads of work. When her cat had died when she was 8, she hadn't left her room during a whole holiday week and had read half a dozen science books. When her family had moved to another state, she had spent weeks studying for college and her exams, without talking to anyone unless it had been mandatory. When Ronnie had left her, she had put everything she had in the Particle Accelerator, shutting everyone out. And now, she was doing exactly the same.

She spent her days at S.T.A.R. labs, getting out just to get coffee, something to eat or to go home in the evening. Sometimes, she even thought about just sleeping in her lab. It would save time and car fuel. But she always went home. It was her safe haven, guarding all of the good memories. But staying there too long could become painful (because of said memories). So she restrained herself from spending too much time, alone, at home.

She was avoiding everyone (except Cisco who she just couldn't dodge) even if they tried to get her out. She just couldn't get over the hurt she felt. Cisco thought that it was just to stay into character, as Barry's ex-girlfriend, that she was acting that way. But he soon understood that she had really been affected by the recent events. So he tried to make her smile and lift up her mood, but it was hard.

Every time Cisco suggested a night out, she would blandly refuse. Without Barry, she didn't feel like going out with the gang. First, she would feel awkward. Second, she didn't want to ruin his evening too. Third, if Barry was there, she didn't want him to see how the "breakup" had affected her. Even if he probably already knew. And she absolutely wanted to avoid seeing him with Olivia. She didn't know if she had already met the gang (she didn't care, she just didn't want to see her).

Caitlin was building her walls back up around her, protecting herself from the heartbreaks and the loss. She didn't even watch TV, too scared to be reminded of her own predicament. Last time she had turned her TV on; some show had been running and about 10 minutes in, a quote had made her choke on her Thai food.

" _Is this what love is? Intense connection and heartbreaking loss?"_

It hadn't taken long for her to shut her TV off after that.

So in her free time (when S.T.A.R. labs was empty and Cisco insisted that she went home), she would just stay in, cook something and read a good book. Tonight was one of those nights. She was comfortably on her couch, reading with a glass of wine, wearing a S.T.A.R. labs sweatshirt and some shorts (her usual "staying-in" outfit). Soft music was playing in the background and she was lost in her story. It was the only way (except work) to make her stop thinking about Barry.

Her phone rang. _"Summer lovin', had me a blast._ "

Without even glancing at the goofy picture Barry had put as his contact picture, blinking on her phone, she ignored the call. Since their fight, he had tried calling her multiple times, but she never answered. She couldn't deal with it right now. She needed time.

She dived back into her book but was soon interrupted by a soft knock on her door. With a sight, she put her book down on her coffee table and stood up to see who was in front of her door. For a short moment, she thought that maybe it would be Barry and her heartbeat got faster. When she opened the door, she let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding. Ronnie was standing there, waiting for her, with a take-out bag.

He opened his arm with a big grin on his face. "Hey there Cait! It's been a long time since we saw you, so I decided to just drop by and see how you were doing. So here I am! I've got Italian food."

She gasped. All of this seemed way too familiar to her. That's what Barry used to do, dropping by for a movie night with Italian food to spend a quiet night just the two of them. Before she could say anything, he walked past her and entered her apartment.

"So how have you been?" He asked, doing as if he were at home, throwing his jacket on her couch and getting a glass of water in her kitchen.

She closed her door and turned around. "Ronnie, what do you want?"

He returned from her kitchen and looked at her with fake innocence. "What makes you think I want anything? I'm just here to spend some time with you like friends do."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but we're not really that kind of friends..."

"But we could be, right?" He asked hopefully.

"I guess ... maybe." She hesitated. Something was off. Ronnie hadn't been at her apartment ever since he had taken his stuff back. Why did he want to be friends now?

"Good." He flopped down on her couch. "Sooo ... how's Barry?"

Caitlin stopped dead in her tracks, as she was about to sit next to him on her couch. She glared at Ronnie. "You perfectly know that we broke up." She said curtly.

"You don't have to bring out the big guns. I was just making sure." He lifted his arms in surrender, grinning smugly. He was showing off. He knew how to play his charms perfectly and Caitlin was irritated by it.

"Making sure for what?" She crossed her arms on her chest. "What are you _really_ doing here? What do you want?"

Ronnie stood up and came closer to her. "Fine, I admit, I'm not just here for a social call." He stood taller, fixed his hair and gave her his best smile. "I thought that, now that you're single again ... maybe you could give me another chance? We could try again..."

"Ronnie..." She warned him as he came closer.

"We were _so good_ together, Cait. Please give _us_ another try."

"I can't."

"Why not?" He was now in her personal space, his arms almost closing in on her.

She took a step back. "I just broke up with Barry." She said, matter-of-factly.

"Well, if you're worried about his feelings, we could always hide our relation in front of the others. But behind close doors…" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"That's not the point." She replied harshly. "It's not because I just broke up with Barry that I have to jump immediately in a relationship with you."

"But you could. Come on Snowy, I know you want too." He came closer again, a smug grin on his face, so sure of himself. It was almost disgusting her, how proud of himself he was.

"Don't. Call. Me. Snowy." She grunted through grit teeth.

He chuckled. "You never liked that nickname, didn't you?" He didn't seem to understand how serious she was.

"This isn't a joke, Ronnie. I'm not getting back together with you. You had your chance and you blew it."

"But you could give me another chance, right?"

"No. In case you already forgot, I just broke up with Barry. You really think I can get over him like that, in a flash? It isn't that easy to get over someone you have feelings for." That's when something began to dawn on her. She had said something out loud that she hadn't even realised herself. She did have feelings for Barry. She really didn't want to get back with Ronnie. She wanted Barry. With no regrets. She looked at her ex in front of her, and realised that there wasn't any clenching of her heart or butterfly in her stomach as she saw him so close. "I'm sorry but this…" She showed the space between them. "Isn't going to happen."

He let his arms fall back to the length of his body and looked disappointed. He tried to do his puppy eyes but Caitlin just shook her head. "I think it's probably best if you leave now. I'm not hungry anyway."

Ronnie was about to protest when someone knocked on her door for the second time this evening. She turned around and opened her front door.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me! What is _he_ doing here?!" Barry said, standing outside her apartment.

She looked at him, wide eyed, then back at Ronnie. She quickly gathered her thoughts back together. "He was just leaving."

"I was?" Ronnie asked, not at all pleased about how things were going.

She glared back at him. "Yes. Thank you for dropping by. Don't forget your food." She showed the take-out bag on her coffee table. Ronnie shook his head, took the bag and left the apartment without a word. As he walked next to Caitlin and then Barry, he stood taller, lifting his broad shoulder, trying to be threatening. Barry just glared back at him.

When Ronnie was out of sight, Barry turned back towards Caitlin, his eyes softening immediately when his eyes met hers. "I tried to call… many times… can we talk, please?"

"Sure. Come in." She let him in and closed the door. Her heartbeat was way too fast, seeing him there, in here apartment again. She tried to calm herself. Sure she now realised she had feelings for him. But that didn't mean Olivia was out of the picture.

Barry turned around to face her, nervously playing with the hem of his jacket. They stayed silent for a few moments, neither of them wanting to begin. Finally, Barry took up the courage to speak up.

"I know you've been avoiding me. And I'm sure you have every reason to. But, please Cait, let me speak and listen to what I have to say." His pleading eyes looked straight into hers and she was already drowning into them. "Let me tell you _my side_ of the story."


	14. Say Something

Back and forth. Back and forth.

If she looked at him nervously pacing around her living room much longer, she would explode. She had agreed to hear him out, without saying anything. And now, Caitlin was sitting on her couch, waiting for Barry to actually _talk_.

But no, he didn't seem to find the right words to begin. Caitlin was about to say something when he stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face her.

"After our fight, I went home, to think about what had just happened. Because I knew I had missed something. You seemed so mad at me… and so hurt…" He took his jacket off and threw it on a chair near her TV. He folded his sleeves up his arms. "That's when I remember something you had said during our fight. You said you saw the texts."

A shadow seemed to pass in Caitlin's eyes, the hurt clearly present at the mention of the famous texts. Barry was about to say something about it, but decided against it. He had to go through with his story or he would never get the chance to end it.

He moved again, but this time he sat on her coffee table, just in front of her. Their knees were almost touching and his eyes looked straight into hers. "Cait, you have to believe me when I tell you that I had no idea about which texts you were talking about." Caitlin's heart missed a beat. "So I looked in my phone. And there they were." He put one hand on her knee. "But I swear, Cait, I never wrote any of them!"

She thought she was about to faint. The power his eyes held on her was unbelievable. She couldn't look away. The heat of his hand on her knee was making her shiver.

"I never once sent a message to Olivia. You have to believe me."

Caitlin took a deep breath. "So where are they coming from?"

A hopeful light shined in his eyes. But it was soon chased away by a shadow. "I don't know."

Caitlin shook her head and stood up, the need to put some distance between them too important to ignore. She saw his shoulder slump back down, and his head fall a little.

"How am I supposed to believe you? Those texts are real. I saw them and so did you. What am I supposed to think? That they appeared out of nowhere?" Her angry voice was resonating in her living room.

"Maybe, I don't know… They seem real, the dates and hours are accurate." He could feel his heart tighten. The battle wasn't won yet. She seemed so close to him, yet so far away. "I'm going to ask Felicity to look into it tomorrow. I never wrote these texts and I intend on proving it to you. I know it seems crazy, and I understand your reluctance…"

"So what do you want from me?" She replied without letting him finish. "Real or not, I'm not coming back on my decision. We can't keep this up, pretending to be together. One day, you'll meet someone you're really interested in, and I won't stand in your way." The look she was giving him was heart wrenching. "I won't do that to you, Barry. You were right, you let me use you, but it has to stop."

"I guess you're right..." He looked at his hands, nervously playing with them, like he wanted to know something but was too scared to ask. Caitlin was still standing across the room, trying not to look at him too much. Because if she did, there wouldn't much stopping her going over there and give him a hug. He looked so miserable sitting on her coffee table.

He raised his head and his eyes crossed hers for a moment. "What was _he_ doing here?"

It took a moment for Caitlin to understand whom he was talking about. She raised her eyebrows. "That's none of your business."

Suddenly, he stood up and came just in front of her. "Why do I feel like you're hiding something from me?" He said through his grit teeth.

Damn her heart to act so crazy every time he was so close to her. Past the surprise of seeing him act like that, she pushed him away with a hand on his torso. "There is nothing to hide. He was here to ask me to get back together with him."

Hurt tangled with fear crossed his eyes. "And? What did you say?"

"No! Who do you take me for?"

"But... why?" He asked incredulously.

"Don't look so surprised..."

"Well... I just thought that... hum... you would jump on the occasion to get back with him..."

She put her hands on her hips and gave him one her most stern look. "And why in the world would I do that?"

"Because you're in love with him?" It seemed so obvious to him.

Caitlin wanted to tell him how she felt, so badly. The words were so close from tumbling down her lips. But the fear of being rejected was too powerful. So she just shook her head and asked something that had been on her mind these past few days. "If you didn't send these texts, if you didn't talk to Olivia... why were you avoiding me ever since the karaoke night?"

Barry had the decency to look ashamed and guilty. "I wasn't..." But he was cut off by Caitlin's warning stare. "Okay, I was avoiding you... but not because of what you think."

Caitlin stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. He rubbed his neck with his hand, desperately looking everywhere but in her direction.

"I was protecting myself." He finally said, his shoulders sagging down like a weight had been lifted off and he could finally rest.

"From what?" She asked curiously, trying to catch his eyes with hers.

"You."

Caitlin chocked on the words she was about to say. Incomprehension was written all over her face. "Me?!" She asked incredulously.

"Yeah..." He took a deep breath. "Believe it or not, during our little pretend game, I developed some feelings for you. Feelings you're not supposed to have towards a friend." Her heart began beating so fast that she feared it would explode and break out of her ribcage. "But I know you still love Ronnie... so I decided to pull back, to prevent myself from falling from higher up if I did let these feelings develop themselves."

"Oh..." was the only thing that came out of her mouth. She felt paralysed on her spot. Was this really happening? Was he really telling her that he had feelings for her? He had been brave enough to admit it. And she was there, standing like a deer caught in the headlights.

Their eyes met for the briefest moment and it was all she needed to say the few words that would turn their world upside down (... again). "I don't feel that way about him anymore... there's a reason I acted so jealous when I heard about Olivia..." She saw a flash of recognition and understanding in his eyes. Before he could say anything, Caitlin turned around and fled the room to go in her kitchen.

For a few seconds, she was alone, leaning forward on her counter, trying to slow down her heartbeat and control herself to breathe normally again. But she couldn't do it. And soon, Barry joined her. He came into the room and stood just behind her. He was so close that she could feel heat emanating from his body; his breath was hot on the back of her neck.

A shiver ran up her spine.

"Why would I send some girl flirty texts when I have the most beautiful, funny and smart woman in the world in my arms?" He whispered in her ear.

How was it possible to have so much power over someone? She had never felt this way. He put his hands right next to hers, but not close enough to touch. Whereas the front of his body was flush against the back of hers, creating a perfect bubble from which she couldn't escape. Not that she wanted to anyway.

"Cait." He whispered again. This time, his mouth was so close to her ear that she felt them graze each other.

That was the last straw. Suddenly, Caitlin turned around, found his face with both her hands and crushed her lips against his. For a few short seconds where Barry just stood there without doing anything, she thought she had done a big mistake. There was no turning back from this. The fear of losing him almost made her release her grip on him. But as soon as his head caught up with what was happening, his hands grabbed her waist, bringing her closer to him (if that was even possible) and he eagerly responded to her kiss.

This kiss was more powerful that any kiss they had experienced before in their lives. And they wanted more. Caitlin went on her tiptoes, clutching herself behind his head with her hands, still trying to get her lips closer to his. That move elicited a moan from Barry that sent a shiver down her spine. She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips.

Barry took the opportunity to let his tongue slip past her open lips, effectively shutting her up. She relaxed against him, waiving her hands through his hair while his fingers were dancing on the small of her back.

Her kitchen was silent, except for ragged breaths and content moans. Caitlin was the first one to pull back, breaking the kiss. He let out a chuckle that made her shiver, as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"I've been dying to do this for _so_ long." He whispered, looking straight in her eyes.

She let her fingers play with the hair on the back of his neck. She wasn't even trying to calm her heartbeat down; she let it gallop like crazy. She raised an eyebrow. "So what took you so long?"

"I have honestly no idea." His smile grew so much that it reached his eyes and she felt herself melt entirely. He leaned over again and pressed his lips back on hers. It didn't take long for her to eagerly respond. And they lost themselves in one another, finally finding a place to belong, a place to feel safe and loved, happy and cherished.

_In each other's arms._


	15. You Always Make Me Smile

Something was tickling the length of her left leg. Caitlin tried to push it away without opening her eyes, but it always came back. For a moment, she thought that it was her cat.

Only problem: she didn't have a cat.

She pushed it away again before the cloud around her brain began lifting itself. It was definitely not a cat. It was a leg. That's when she felt an arm draped over her waist, pulling her tighter behind. She heard a soft hum of contentment and that's when the memories came flooding back to her, like a dam had broken.

She remembered Barry pushing her against her kitchen counter, bringing her closer to him. She remembered unbuttoning his shirt and throwing it on the floor. She could still feel him chuckling in her neck when he had tried to take her sweatshirt off but she hadn't wanted to take her lips away from his in order to do that (it had lead up to her sweatshirt being stuck around her shoulders). She could still see the laugh twinkling in his eyes when he had managed to take it off. She could still hear the happy groans and muffled moans as their mouths fused back together and their hands travelled up and down each other's bodies. She could see flashes of herself taking his hand and leading him to her bedroom where a night of passion had followed. She remembered him humming " _Summer lovin'_ " on their way to her bedroom. She had playfully slapped him on the shoulder. She could still see them stumble on her bed, laughing like little kids and turning serious again just seconds later.

She felt his breath tickling the back of her neck, bringing her back to the present and that's all she needed to let warmth spread from head to toes. Caitlin put her hand on Barry's that was currently lying on her stomach and he just spooned closer to her. She cracked an eye open and saw sun come through her curtains. She had absolutely no idea of what time it was, and she definitely didn't care.

She felt Barry stir behind her as he was waking up. He moved up to place a kiss delicately on the back of her neck where he had been peacefully breathing moments ago. She turned her head to meet his still sleepy eyes.

"Morning Snowflake." He whispered, a smile illuminating his whole face. The sight was breathtaking. She let a hand run through his small stubble, go up to his ear and then to the back of his head to bring his face closer to hers. He stopped just a breath apart from her, rubbed his nose on hers, and finally closed the distance between their lips. The kiss was sweet and short.

"Hmm… Morning to you too." She whispered against his lips. She let her fingers play with his whiskers and turned completely on her back to look up towards him.

"How did you sleep?" He asked softly.

"Pretty good actually. I had my personal blanket protecting me through the night. It even woke me to play a little around 3 am." She said, eyebrows lifting suggestively.

He blushed at the mention and buried his face in the crook of her neck. Caitlin chuckled at his response and buried her hands in his hair, playing with it. "You didn't seem to complain at the time." He mumbled, his voice vibrating against her skin.

"I wasn't and I'm not going to start now." She replied cheerfully.

She wished she could just freeze time, stay here like this forever, just the both of them, happier than they'd ever been. She felt her heart swell and herself turning into a puddle. Caitlin was on cloud nine, keeping Barry so close to her as he was pressing kisses along her neck.

"Hmm… I could get use to this." She whispered, closing her eyes, losing herself in the moment.

Barry stopped, pulled back and looked at her, surprise written all over his face. She opened her eyes, flushed under his stare and tried to hide her face in her cushion. With one hand on her chin, he turned her face back to his.

"You really mean it?"

She nodded softly and felt herself being pulled back towards him. They met for a passionate kiss, tangling themselves deeper under the covers. When Barry broke the kiss, he whispered "Me too" against her lips. They both giggled and snuggled closer to each other.

Their peace and quiet morning was disrupted by the shrilling sound of Caitlin's alarm clock. She reluctantly untangled herself from Barry and turned around to shut it off. Barry groaned and tried to bring her closer back against him.

She laughed softly. "Sorry, but I have to go to S.T.A.R. labs today." She glanced back at his sleepy face. "Even if I would love to spend the day in bed with you."

The look he threw her was so sweet that she almost decided to stay. "Really? On a Saturday morning, Cait? You're kidding right?" He grumbled as she extracted herself delicately from his warm grip.

She sat on the edge of her bed. "I'm sorry, but Dr. Wells wanted me to look at some new data today."

"Can't it wait until Monday?"

"I'm afraid not." She stood up, padded back to her kitchen, took Barry's button up shirt that was lying on the ground and put it on. A few seconds later, she had disappeared into her bathroom.

Barry let out a big sigh of contentment and threw his head back into his pillow. That woman had no idea what effects she had on him. His heart was probably beating faster than the speed of sound and the room seemed to lack of light when she wasn't in it. He couldn't quite believe what had happened, how lucky he was that she chose him. He rubbed his hands against his face, but the smile that was plastered there wasn't going to disappear any time soon. He felt so silly, smiling alone in an empty room, but so happy that he hadn't a care in the world. He lifted his head, looking around for his underwear and pants. When he found them, discarded next to the bed, he quickly put them on before going back to bed.

He heard the bathroom's door open and turned to watch Caitlin coming back. His breath was stolen from him when he realised that Caitlin wearing his shirt was now his favourite sight in the world. There was something to it that he couldn't quite describe. It was so different from what she would wear on a daily basis; it was so carefree and stunning at the same time. She took a pair of underwear and shorts to put under and turned towards him. The look Barry had on his face made her flush from head to toes. Again.

"Don't look at me like that." She barely whispered, looking shyly away.

He threw the covers to the side, stood up and joined her near her wardrobe. He put his hands on her hips and brought his mouth closer to her ear. "Like what?"

"Like you want to take me back to bed and keep me from going to work."

"Oh but that's exactly what I want to do." He said looking at her playfully.

It was so tempting; to forget all her worries and spend the day with him. But she really did need to work this morning. It took her so much willpower to extract herself yet again from his arms. "Sorry but not today, big guy."

He let his shoulders drop a little, clearly a bit disappointed. But his smile never faltered. "Okay fine, as milady wishes." She lightly smacked him on his chest and he pretended being hurt. She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the laughter that tumbled down from her lips.

Barry turned serious again. "Anyway, I have to go see Felicity. You know, about the texts."

Caitlin sobered up immediately. She bit her lower lip and nodded, her eyes not quite meeting his.

When he saw that the mere mention of the texts was bringing her mood down, he carefully took her by the waist and brought her closer to him. He lifted her chin with his fingertips. "Hey." He whispered. "I promise that I'll figure it out. And that no matter what, I'll come back to you."

Her eyes were watery, lost in his, drowning in his green sea. "You won't get rid of me so easily, Snowflake." He joked to lighten the mood.

She let out a shaky laugh. He always found the right words to brighten her day, to make her laugh. She had barely time to shudder at the way his nickname was rolling down on his tongue, that he pressed his lips against hers for a sweet but heated kiss. He was the one to pull away first with a smug look on his face when she groaned, not quite pleased that he had interrupted the kiss. "Weren't you supposed to get ready for work?"

* * *

He hammered repeatedly on the door until it finally opened itself. A sleepy (and grumpy) Oliver was standing at the door, his shirt open letting his chest visible to any bystander.

"Barry?! What the hell are you doing here? You do realise it's 8 in the morning... on a weekend!" He groaned, not pleased at all.

Barry ignored him and sneaked in through the door. "I need to see your girlfriend."

When he entered their living room, Felicity was just coming out of her bedroom, tying her bathrobe's knot. "Barry? Is everything alright?" She asked worried.

"I need your help."

Oliver was standing next to the young IT specialist, shooting daggers with his eyes towards Barry. "Really? Now is not the best time."

Barry ignored his grumpy friend, not taking it personally. Oliver wasn't known as a morning person. "Yes really. I need you to take a look at my phone, something is wrong with it, Felicity."

She put her glasses on and raised an eyebrow. "I already looked at it and I didn't like what I found."

"I know but… Wait, what? You hacked into my phone already?" He asked, confusion written all over Barry's face. What was she talking about?

Felicity looked uneasy, her mouth was wide open, realising she had said something she shouldn't have. "Hum… well…" She rambled awkwardly. "I did some private detecting because I had some suspicions."

Awareness appeared on Barry's features. "You're the one who told Caitlin about the texts?"

"Guilty. But don't think for a second that I regret it." She said harshly. "I was being a good friend to her."

"Well, that's just great. Except I didn't write any of those texts." Anger was showing its ugly head. Barry tried to calm himself down. If it hadn't been for Felicity's curiosity, Caitlin and him would have never fought about it. But on the other hand, Barry probably wouldn't have admitted his feelings for her. And that was one essential point here.

To regain some composure, he tried to recall how Caitlin had shared her breakfast with him this morning, how they had spent more time kissing and snuggling than actually eating. How they had stayed for about 10 minutes next to her car, trying to say goodbye for the day, promising each other to meet up later.

Felicity broke Barry out of his daydreaming. "Okay, what do you want me to do?"

Oliver shot her a bewildered look. "Well, I'm going back to bed. Have fun you two." He grumbled and left the room.

They both ignored him as Barry answered her. "I need you to see where those texts are coming from."

Felicity took her computer and Barry handed her his phone. They sat at the dinner table and she began doing her magic on his phone. "Now that I know something is wrong, I think I'll be able to detect where the problem is pretty easily. Last time, I wasn't looking for some kind of hacking, I was just snooping around your stuff." Barry threw her an exasperated look. "Sorry." She apologized.

Barry was desperately trying to look over her shoulder to see what she was doing. But it quickly got on her nerves. "If you keep breathing down my neck, I won't go faster, believe me."

"Sorry." He mumbled before backing off, wandering aimlessly in her living room.

Suddenly, Felicity stood up in all her glory, throwing her arms in the air. "Boom! Drop the mic." Barry stared at her wide-eyed. "It's metaphorical of course, because I don't have a real… mic." She shrugged.

Barry joined her at her computer. "You found something?" He asked hopefully.

"Well, I know that someone hacked into your phone and planted those texts by a simple Bluetooth transfer. The person behind this is pretty good, because they look real; the dates are consistent with a real time line. And they were hidden where you would never look, except if you're snooping around."

"Okay, that's good. Kind of… When was the Bluetooth transfer made?"

"Hum… Wait a minute… There it is."

Barry looked at the date displayed on her screen. It didn't take long for him to remember that day. "Terrific." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Does Karaoke night ring any bell?" He asked her rhetorically.


	16. Secrets

The bitter taste of coffee was making its way down her throat. Caitlin looked down and saw that her third cup today was empty. Again. And she wasn't even counting the cup she had this morning for breakfast. For the first time since Caitlin began working at S.T.A.R. labs, she wanted to leave work earlier. She had been sitting in front of her computer screen for the past four hours and her eyes where beginning to itch from weariness.

She put her cup aside and tried to concentrate back on her work. But it seemed like she couldn't do it. She was simply too tired and not focused enough. She kept going back to the time she spent with Barry. And the only thing she wanted to do right now, was to ditch work and see him. But Dr. Wells had clearly insisted that she had to do this. But she was pretty sure it wasn't _that_ important, just routine work. Did she really need another cup of coffee? It wasn't healthy, but oh so tempting.

She looked back at her empty cup and that's when she saw it. There, instead of coffee, was a single red rose standing in her cup. She grazed her fingers against it and smelled its fragrance. It smelled so heavenly good that she had to close her eyes to enjoy it wholly.

"I picked it up on my way here."

A smile appeared on her face even before turning around to look at who was standing there. Caitlin would recognise Barry's voice even under water. He was leaning against the doorframe, looking adoringly at her.

"Thank you, I really needed this." She said softly.

He just shrugged, like the romantic gesture was a current thing. "I know we said we would meet up later, but I couldn't wait to see you. And the security guy downstairs recognised me so he let me in."

She beamed at him; his words making her heart flutter in her chest and her toes curling under the emotion. "Can't get enough of me, can you?" She teased him.

"To be honest?" he chuckled. "Yeah." His face turned serious as he pushed himself off the wall to come closer to her. He leaned over her, putting his hands on each arm of her chair and placing his face a breath away from hers. As he was about to kiss her, she turned her face so that his lips met her cheek instead of her lips.

He pulled back, surprised and a bit hurt at her rejection. "Not at work, Barry." She whispered. But her eyes were telling a completely different story. Longing was floating on her features. He could clearly see the struggle that was going on in her brain. On one hand, there was the _by-the-book_ Dr. Caitlin Snow who knew that a workplace wasn't an appropriate spot to make-out or display any kind of personal affection. But on the other hand, there was the _I-have-so-much-feelings-I-can't-keep-them-inside-anymore_ Cait who absolutely wanted to spend as much time as possible with her new boyfriend.

Not wanting to make her struggle any harder, Barry pulled back entirely and nodded towards her computer screen. "So, are you almost done?"

She followed his gaze, her smile dropping. "Not quite." She sighed.

Barry's heart constricted, seeing her tired like this, working on a Saturday, knowing that she was working like crazy the rest of the week too. "Come on, I think you need a break. Can't you go back to this on Monday morning?" He asked, hopefully.

She glanced at her watch, then back at her screen. Caitlin had always put her work before her personal life. It seemed obvious to her that it was the way to succeed in life. But right now, she wasn't so sure anymore. Why couldn't she have both? She just needed to find the right balance of things. The red rose in her empty cup caught her eyes and she felt butterflies waking up in her belly. Her eyes flew up to meet Barry's and knew that her choice was made. "I guess I could. Nobody's here today anyway."

The wide grin that drew itself on his face was worth every penny. He extended his hand in her direction for her to take. "Let's go grab an ice cream, and then we have somewhere to go."

She eagerly took his hand after shutting her computer off and taking her bag. Caitlin stood up and came closer to him. As Barry was about to turn around to leave her lab, her hand grabbed the back of his neck to bring his lips against hers for a short but meaningful kiss. His hands went to her hips, keeping her close to him. "What was that for?" He asked as she pulled back.

She raised one perfectly groomed eyebrow at him. "Since when do I need a reason to kiss my boyfriend?"

He chuckled. "Boyfriend, uh?" His voice came out way too nervous for his liking. But the soft gaze she gave him put any doubts he had at rest. She nodded with a big smile spreading on her lips. They left S.T.A.R. labs, hand in hand, grinning like fools.

* * *

"Where are we?" Caitlin ducked forwards on the passenger's seat of her car, to look up at the building standing right in front of the car. Barry glanced carefully at her from the driver's seat before playing nervously with his phone in his hands. Feeling his discomfort, she sat back in her seat and gave him a questioning look.

Barry let out a puff of air before speaking. "Promise you won't get mad?"

Caitlin froze on the spot. She hated to promise that kind of thing, it was never a good sign. She eyed him warily. "You know I can't do that. Now spit it out. Where are we?"

Barry shook his head and chuckled. Caitlin was stubborn; she didn't let people walk all over her. That's one of the things he adored about her. Nobody could get her to do something she didn't want to. But when she wanted something, nothing could get in her way. That's what made her an exceptional doctor and bio-engineer. But it also made her a faithful friend and a hard-to-get girlfriend. He couldn't look away, like she was capturing him with only her eyes. Her features were so soft that it was hard to believe she could ever get angry with someone. Except Barry had already been the object of her fury. And he wanted to avoid it at all cost.

"Olivia lives here." He whispered.

Her eyes opened wide, her lips pressed into a thin line. Before she could say anything, Barry kept talking. "I went to see Felicity this morning, and we discovered that the texts were planted in my phone by a Bluetooth transfer the night of the Karaoke." Caitlin looked really focused on what he was saying and she made a movement with her hand, telling him to continue. "And I don't know if I ever told you or not, but that night, Olivia showed me a new phone app, that is supposed to download all your contact's infos just by touching both phones together. At that time, I was kind of impressed by the app. But now I realise that Olivia used the opportunity to plant the messages in my phone without me finding out about it."

Caitlin frowned. "But why would she do that? She didn't even know you."

Barry was relieved that she wasn't mad at him, but really focused on his story. "I have no idea. That's why we're here. I told her I wanted to see her again."

"Oh really?" She asked carefully, not pleased at all by the idea. "Did you mention that you wanted to interrogate her? And that I would be here?" Barry's bashful look gave her the answer to her question. She shook her head and stepped out of the car. "Come on, let's get this over with."

He followed her through the building, going up to the fourth floor and knocking on Olivia's door after checking on his phone if it was the right door. A few moments later, the door cracked open and the young face of Olivia looked straight at them. When she recognised Barry, she opened wider. "Barry! I was waiting for you." She said sweetly. Too sweetly, according to Caitlin who rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"And you must be Caitlin." Olivia said with an exasperated tone.

Barry nodded and she let them inside her apartment. "Do you guys want something to drink?" She asked showing them her couch for them to sit on it.

"No thanks"

"Water would be nice"

Caitlin and Barry had spoken at the same time. Caitlin wanted they stay here to be as short as possible and glared at her boyfriend for asking for some water.

Olivia chuckled and went to fetch three glasses of water. When she came back, she sat on a chair opposed to them. "So what are you two doing here? I suppose this isn't just some friendly visit." She asked straight away.

Barry fidgeted on his seat, looking nervously towards Caitlin. Seeing she wasn't going to speak first, he tried to get his bearings back together. He needed answers and so did she, they deserved to know the truth or their relationship would lie on an unbalanced beginning. And secrets.

"So… The thing is…" He waved his hand through his hair to give himself more time to think. He let out a big puff of air. "We kind of know you were the one who planted conversations between the both of us in my phone." Olivia didn't seem fazed by the revelation and didn't budge. "What we would like to know is why?"

"I guess the day would come sooner or later." She simply replied, staying cool even under the stair of the couple in front of her. She paused, letting them sweat a little. She nodded towards Caitlin. "Your ex-boyfriend asked me to do it. I owed him one for helping me find a job in the city. So I volunteered to help him get you back."

The looks on Barry's and Caitlin's faces were priceless. Barry's green eyes were getting a shade darker with anger and his mouth was hanging open from shock. Caitlin was scowling back at her with a frown on her face.

"What you're saying is, that Ronnie asked you to fake a flirty relationship with Barry, so that I would find out and break up with him and that Ronnie could comfort me in my pain? All of this to win me back?" Caitlin said through gritted teeth.

Olivia nodded, a faint smile appearing on her face as she snickered. "I guess so. He was right, you _are_ smart."

"Oh I'm going to kill him." Caitlin said furiously standing up, ready to storm out of the room. She didn't even want to acknowledge the condescending tone Olivia was using to talk to her. Barry barely had time to follow her and grab her arm to stop her just before she could open the front door.

"Cait, wait! Calm down!"

"Calm down?!" She snapped at him, suddenly facing him. "You're kidding right?!" She was so impressive and threatening in all her glory that Barry had to let go of her arm, too scared to be victim of her wrath.

He took a deep breath and spoke with a very controlled voice. "We'll figure it out together, I promise."

"Barry, he almost ruined our chance to be together!" She chocked out, her eyes watering at the thought of what would've happened if she really had lost Barry.

"But he didn't!" He said softly, putting his hand carefully on her cheek, gently brushing her skin with his thumb. The young doctor looked like all her energy had been sucked out of her body.

She lost herself yet again in his eyes for a few seconds before getting her wits back. She extracted herself from his hold, anger surfacing back up again. "That's not the point! Ronnie needs to understand that I'm not some prize to win, that I'm not something to own, I don't belong to him!"

"I totally agree with you on that point." Barry let his arm fall back to the length of his body.

"So why on earth are you taking his defence?" She replied angrily.

"I'm not! I just don't think it's a good idea for you to go see him in your current state."

"Well I don't care, to be honest. He needs to understand that I'm a grown woman and I won't take any more of his crap. He's made me suffer long enough. He needs to pay back." She said harshly leaving Olivia's apartment. Barry quickly waved their host goodbye before following her down the building. Caitlin was about to get in the driver's seat of her car when he caught up with her. He grabbed her arms and turned her towards him, trapping her body between him and her car.

"Cait, we'll deal with this together. Believe me, I want to make him pay too. But not right now. You need to calm down first." He pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. It felt like his energy was draining out of him too. His eyes flew up to meet hers and her proximity was all Barry needed to gain back some of his strength. "And look at the bright side: if he hadn't done anything, we would probably still be circling around each other right now."

Caitlin's wrath seemed to come down a little. She fixed her feet with her eyes as she sighed. "Yeah, but it would've spared me some suffering."

Barry collected her in his arms, laying her head on his chest and stroking softly her hair. "I know." He whispered against her ear. He felt Caitlin sneaking her arms around him, bringing him closer to her and burying her face in the crook of his neck. It was her new favourite place to be in every situation, if it was to laugh, to moan, to sleep or even to cry. It was her safe haven.

Right now, the crook of his neck felt like the perfect place to let a few tears roll down her face and his chest.


	17. Home

Caitlin was lost in her thoughts while Barry was driving away from Olivia's building. She was absent-mindedly contemplating the scenery through the window. She had no idea were Barry was bringing her. But she didn't really care; she was still fuming about Ronnie.

Barry glanced curiously at her before looking back at the road in front of him. It pained him to see how much Ronnie could still affect her with his mean tricks. Sure she said she didn't love him anymore, but it didn't mean that she wouldn't be affected by his behaviour from time to time. He couldn't help being a bit jealous. He quickly shook his head, chasing the thought out of his mind. Maybe now that they knew that Ronnie was responsible for all of their _texts-troubles_ , they could finally move on.

But right now, it was his duty, as her boyfriend, to get her mind off her anger. And he had the perfect idea. They would deal with Ronnie later.

He came to a stop right in front of a small resident house and turned the ignition off. He stepped out of the car and went to the passenger's side to open her door.

"Come on, Snowflake, let's get you out of here." He teased her, to get some kind of reaction out of her. She suddenly seemed to realise that they had stopped and that Barry was standing in front of her, waiting for her to move. It was now dark outside and she noticed she had absolutely no idea where they were.

Caitlin eyed her boyfriend cautiously before getting out of her car. Barry quickly locked it before handing her back her keys. He carefully took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers together as they made their way to the front door of the house. She softly tugged on his hand for him to look at her, as he was about to knock on the door. Without saying a word, Barry immediately understood what she was asking. _How do I look? Aren't my eyes too swollen by my tears?_

He softly brushed his thumb against her cheek and whispered. "Don't worry, you look gorgeous." And he gently pressed his lips against hers. Caitlin felt her heart flutter and smiled as he pulled back and knocked on the door. They heard some muffled noises inside the house before someone opened the door.

"Bar! You're early for once." Detective Joe West said with a big smile, a dishtowel hanging from his shoulder and one oven glove on each hand. "And you brought Doctor Snow with you, how nice! Perfect, I cooked too much to eat anyway."

His cheerful attitude was contagious and a small smile spread across Caitlin's face. "Sorry for imposing unannounced, Detective, but Barry here didn't even tell me where we were going."

"Pssaat." He chirped; waiving his hand in her direction, showing her she wasn't imposing at all. "Don't worry. Now come in you two, before I forget our meal in the oven. And please, call me Joe." He winked at the young doctor who gave him a shy smile.

"Only if you call me Caitlin." She replied playfully. Joe burst out laughing, showing them the way to the kitchen. Barry could only look with gleaming eyes at the interactions between them. He knew that Caitlin and Joe had worked together a little when she had been his replacement at the CCPD, but he had never actually seen them together in the same room. And he felt his heart swell, seeing them talking so easily together.

"Do you need help with something?" Barry asked when he saw the state the kitchen was in. Pans, knives, spoons and vegetables were lying a bit everywhere on the kitchen counter.

"What are you saying? That my kitchen looks like a mess?" Joe teased raising an eyebrow. "Nah, I'm fine. Please be the polite host I raised you to be and offer our dear Caitlin something to drink."

Barry rolled his eyes at Joe's antics but took a bottle of wine and a few glasses after checking with Caitlin. They went both into the leaving room after being banished from the kitchen by the detective. They sat on the couch, sipping quietly some wine.

"Why didn't you tell me we were coming here?" Caitlin finally asked.

Barry sat his glass down on the coffee table and put a hand on her knee. "Well, you weren't quite in the mood to talk on the drive here. And Joe had this evening planned since last week." He cleared his throat. "And I didn't want to leave you alone tonight, so I thought… Why not?"

There was a glint in Caitlin's eyes, as she looked straight into his. Without a word, she leaned closer to him and kissed him softly. "Thanks" she whispered against his lips. She pulled back and looked around her, like she was noticing her surroundings differently. "So… This is were you grew up?"

He nodded. "I moved here after my parents' deaths. I spent my school years here, with Iris and Joe. I moved out when I began studying forensics." Barry took her glass and sat it down next to his. He stood up and offered her his hand. "Do you want to come up and see my old bedroom?" He asked, wiggling his eyes suggestively.

She giggled as she took his hand and followed him up the stairs. He opened a door at the end of the corridor and let her in, presenting her the room with opened arms. "Tadaaa."

Caitlin carefully padded across the room, looking intently at every item present, like she was decrypting his room, trying to understand how he had grown up. She observed every single one of his little action figures he adored as a kid, she examined delicately every single book titles he had in his library, she let her fingers fly over every single science gear he faithfully maintained and Barry stayed behind, waiting for any kind of reaction.

"Awww, that's so cute!"

Barry eyed her curiously and then an annoyed look appeared on his face. She was holding one of his pictures where he was about eight years old, had a black eye and was hugging some big fluffy pink elephant in his arms. "For real? That's the thing you're picking up in my room?"

She giggled at his reaction then frowned. "Do you have a black eye?"

He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. "Yeah… I was kind of bullied a lot as a kid. And I got into a lot of fights. My dad used to call me slugger." He showed the picture with his hand. "That day, I had it pretty bad. So my mom took me out to the carnival that was in town and I won that big elephant. It meant the world to me at that time." He said wistfully.

"Do you still have it?" Caitlin asked softly.

"Hum… I don't think so… Maybe it's still in the attic. Why?"

"Well it would be good to know, if you need something to cuddle up at night." She teased.

He approached her carefully. "Hum… I think I'd rather cuddle up with you."

The look she gave him in return made him swallow hard. Her eyes were three shades darker than usual and the way she was biting her lower lips made him lose his mind. He took the three steps that were separating them and cupped her face between both of his hands. His lips covered hers in a long warm kiss that left her short on breath. She gazed up at him when he pulled back and whispered. "How did I get so lucky to find you?"

Caitlin's heart skipped a beat. She went on her tiptoes and planted her lips on his without hesitancy, like they had been doing this for years. They seemed to know each other in and out perfectly. Caitlin ran her hands through his hair, dishevelling them like she loved to do so much.

The soft groan that escaped Barry's lips made her pull away, grinning from ear to ear. He leaned his forehead against hers, taking a deep breath making her shiver in the process. Her eyes were twinkling as she softly played with his short hair on the back of his neck. "We should probably stop before we end up in bed. That would be a really bad idea, with Joe waiting for us downstairs." Caitlin murmured against his lips, ending with a small peck.

Barry nodded while still trying to steal one kiss or two, but she pulled all the way back, keeping him at arm's length. She sat on his bed where he followed her when he saw her smile fading away, like she was just realising something.

"I'm sorry I called you a coward the other day. You didn't deserve it." The young doctor finally says.

"I kind of did… I was completely avoiding you."

"Yes, but you had your reasons… Very valid reasons. And I didn't even let you talk for yourself."

"That's true." He chuckled. "Don't worry, I wont hold it against you. You were hurt and mad, so I understand."

Caitlin fidgeted with her hands. "I want us to be comfortable in this relationship. So we need to talk to each other if something isn't right, okay?"

Barry leaned closer, trying to catch her eyes with his. "I promise I will do my best."

She raised her head, softly smiling. "Anyway, I wanted to apologise for that fight. I went at you like a bull seeing red."

The clear laugh that came out of his mouth was contagious and Caitlin couldn't help herself from joining him. When their laughs eased down, Barry softly spoke again. "Yeah, that's one of the things I adore about you. You're passionate, in everything you do. You're amazing in that way."

Caitlin flushed under the compliments he was giving her. "Stop it, you're being too nice to me." She whispered. But he could see from the grateful look she sent his way, that what he had said meant a lot to her. "I'm the one who is lucky to have found you." She finally said, biting her lower lip.

Barry beamed at her and leaned closer to give her a kiss that escalated quickly like the last one. She sneaked one hand under his shirt, running up his torso and making him shiver under her touch, while her other hand was buried in his hair. On his side, Barry was trailing one hand down her back and then hip to bring her closer to him. He pulled her legs so they were lying across his and she was almost sitting sideway on his laps. His other hand was against her cheek, fingers grazing her scalp and his thumb stroking her smooth skin. Their fused mouths and entangled bodies left no doubt about the nature of their relationship.

"Bar, are you in here?"

They both jumped away from each other at the sound of the question. But there was no way that the Iris standing at his doorstep, mouth wide opened and round-eyed, hadn't seen what she had interrupted.

"Oh, I'm sorry... did I walk in on something?" Iris teased her friends.

Surprisingly, neither Barry nor Caitlin was willing to answer that. Barry preferred giving her his most innocent look and Caitlin was avoiding her eyes while trying to fix her hair.

Iris smirked. "So... Are you two really together now or... you know... it's still part of an act?"

Knowing that there was no way they could get out of this without lying, Barry answered. "Yep! It's official!" He looked like a kid on Christmas. "Well... not actually official because nobody really knows... but we're enjoying it right now."

"I can see that!" Iris raised an eyebrow. "You two look like you can't keep your hands off each other!"

Caitlin and Barry glanced at one another before looking away both flushed crimson red.

Iris hopped on her feet eagerly, clapping in her hands. "Aww! You two are so cute, I'm so happy for you! Anyway, dinner is ready and Joe and Eddie are famished, so you two better come before there isn't anything left to eat." Iris was about to leave before stopping, turning around and pointing at Barry. "Oh, and Bar, don't forget to close your shirt before coming down to eat." She winked before leaving the room.

Caitlin blushed furiously as she realised that, in the heat of the moment, she had undone a few buttons (well most of them to be honest) of his shirt that was now hanging open. Barry burst out laughing and Caitlin glared at him.

"This isn't funny!" She protested. "We're lucky it wasn't Joe!"

"Ah Cait... If Joe had walked in on us like that, he would be laughing as hard as me right now."

Caitlin just rolled her eyes but she couldn't fool anyone, the big grin on her face was letting everyone know how she felt. She came closer to him to close his button-up shirt and the laugh died in Barry's throat. He had to swallow hard to resist the temptation to pick up their earlier activities when she combed her hand through his hair to try and make it presentable again. He was so close to giving in when she rose on her tiptoes to graze a kiss on his jaw before pulling away.

"Now come on, dinner is waiting for us." Caitlin said, giving him her hand to take on the way.

Iris and Eddie were already sitting at the dinning table while Joe was putting food on it. Barry sat next to Iris and Caitlin next to Eddie. Joe took the head of the table.

"There are the two love birds!" Joe cheerfully announced.

They had a happy dinner, filled with laughter and humour. To Caitlin, it felt like she had always been part of this makeshift family, like she had been at every family dinner from the past decade. She was included in every conversation and there wasn't any awkwardness. She felt like she was home.

With her family being in another state, she hadn't really the occasion to have a casual dinner with them. Seeing her family was always a big event, like at Christmas or Thanksgiving, or even the fourth of July. But she hadn't had the small kind of dinner in a long time. And it was refreshing. Without mentioning the meaningful looks Barry threw her way now and then that made her feel all giddy inside. Everything about tonight was making her feel a lot better, she had almost forgotten about Ronnie.

It was past midnight when they all decided to call it a night. Iris and Eddie left first while Caitlin insisted to help Joe with the dishes.

"Okay Joe, we're going to leave now. I'll bring Caitlin home, see you tomorrow." Barry called behind him as he left the house.

Caitlin stayed behind for a few moments, thanking Joe for everything. "I had a great time, really."

"You're welcome Caitlin. Don't be a stranger, drop by whenever you feel like it." He kindly replied.

Barry drove Caitlin back to her place in her car. When they arrived, he gave her back her keys. "Are you going to walk back home?" She asked him.

Barry nodded, coming closer to give her a goodnight kiss. "I promise I'll text you when I'm home safe and sound." He joked.

Caitlin just rolled her eyes at the comment. She then leaned her mouth to his ear to whisper something that made him shiver while playing with the hem of his shirt. "You know, you could just stay the night here. It would save you some time."

He pulled back, his eyes shining at her, her hand still against his chest. "You're right, it would be more convenient." He winked at her. "I would love to." He said more seriously.


	18. Payback

Barry looked at her from his side of the bed. She was so beautiful, lying there, peacefully. It was so far away from the angry attitude she had the previous day. There was no frown on her face, no wrinkle between her eyebrows, no biting her lips thing going on… She was asleep and relaxed. It was almost 11 am on Sunday and she was still peacefully sleeping. She didn't have to go work; she just needed to enjoy herself. Right now, he wanted to prevent anything that could disturb her peace and quiet, her happiness.

Ronnie's face flashed in his mind and he felt himself growl. That guy had acted like a jerk, making him look like a cheater and a jackass. And Barry didn't like one bit of it. He glanced at Caitlin again, softly stroking her hair without waking her up.

It was time for revenge.

Barry leaned over Caitlin to sweetly kiss the crown of her hair before getting out of bed and putting his clothes back on. Without a noise, he sneaked out of the apartment.

About 10 minutes later, Barry knocked on a door and waited for Ronnie to open it.

"Barry! To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked cheerfully. Except Barry could see right through him. His attitude was faked. Ronnie let him in. "Make yourself at home. Do you want something to drink?"

"Oh cut the crap, Ronnie, I'm not here to chitchat." Barry answered harshly.

Ronnie eyed him curiously where he stood. "What has gotten a hold of you?" He snickered.

Barry clenched his jaw. "I'm not here to joke around." He stood straighter, pointing at Ronnie. "I know you're the one behind the fake texts thing. You wanted Caitlin and I to break up."

Ronnie had the decency to look a bit guilty, but he caught himself quickly, putting on his mask of self-confidence. "Naah, I admit it was me, but it was just an innocent prank."

"A prank? For real?" Barry replied, his voice getting higher. He was clearly not buying a word he was saying.

"Yeah, you know, to ruffle you bit."

Barry shook his head. "Stop it right now. We went to see Olivia and she told us everything."

Ronnie stopped dead in his tracks. "We? Caitlin was there too?" He asked, suddenly not so sure of himself anymore.

"What do you think? Of course she was there, she wanted to know what was going on as badly as me."

"How did she react?" He asked anxiously.

Barry shot him a surprised look. "How did she react? She was furious! What do you think? You thought she would come running back to you?"

Ronnie didn't say anything for a moment, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Barry shook his head. "Whatever, I'm out of here. Just stay away." He warned before turning around. He was about to step out of the apartment when Ronnie said something that made him freeze on the spot.

"Actually, yeah." His voice was dripping with pride and confidence. "Caitlin belongs to me. And sooner or later, she'll realise that. And when she does, she'll dump you faster than you can ever imagine, before coming back to me."

Barry couldn't keep it in anymore. He could see Caitlin crying in his arms because of that guy, time after time. He could see the hurt in her eyes. He could hear her say: _"He's made me suffer long enough. He needs to pay back."_ Anger was burning his skin to the bones. Barry felt electricity running up his body as he turned around and punched Ronnie right in the face. Hard.

"I. Said. Stay. Away." Barry said through gritted teeth and with a clenched jaw.

Ronnie wiped his mouth with his shirtsleeve, scowling at Barry. Before the young forensic specialist could do anything more, Ronnie threw himself at him with all the strength of his body. Barry let out groan of pain when they both fell on the floor. He tried to take back his breathing to a normal pace but Ronnie was pinning him to the ground not letting him move.

Barry saw Ronnie's fist coming straight at him and had nowhere to go to dodge his punch. He closed his eyes as the impact came. He felt his blood boiling in his veins and his heart pulsing all over his face. He quickly licked his lips and could feel blood dripping into his mouth from a probably cut lip.

Ronnie was about to punch him again when Barry managed to roll them around so that he was the one on top and the one able to deliver a punch. Which he did. But Barry's actions gained him a knee in the guts in return. And so on, they battled on the ground, without even realising what a childish behaviour they both had. Punch after punch, they tried to show which one of them was stronger.

They both stopped fighting when Barry managed to stand up and back off, trying to catch a break and his breath back. Ronnie was standing a few feet away, bowed over his knees. He shook his head and his eyes flew up to meet Barry's.

"Fighting like this will get us nowhere." Ronnie finally said. A smile appeared on his bruised face. "We should let Caitlin decide, don't you think?"

Barry snickered. "Well good luck with that. You're not the one who left her bed this morning." He spat out, not knowing where it came from. Barry wasn't that guy, the one full of himself and ready to brag to make someone suffer. But Ronnie was asking for it, he was bringing it out of him, digging up his anger that was buried deep down inside of Barry. And he couldn't regret it, seeing Ronnie's disgruntled face.

Ronnie grabbed the closest thing around and threw it in Barry's direction. Barry bent slightly over to dodge the glass, which shattered against the front door. He stood back straighter, winked at Ronnie to taunt him, before leaving the apartment.

Barry ran down the stairs, playing back the recent events in his head. He hadn't been in a fight in a long time – he thought that it was behind him. But he had reacted on instinct. It didn't mean he liked his own behaviour.

He was just leaving the building when his phone rang. _"Barry?! You better have a really good reason for leaving me this morning."_ Caitlin's voice echoed through his phone as soon as he picked it up.

He chuckled. "Well, hello to you too." He swallowed. He couldn't quite admit to her were he had just been. She would probably be furious at him. Barry needed an excuse. A bakery not far away caught his eyes. "Is bringing breakfast a good enough reason for you, darling?"

He heard Caitlin sight. _"Well, you better be here quick, because I'm hungry. And bring coffee, please."_

"Yes ma'am." He joked but hurried anyway. Barry was kind of eager to see grumpy Caitlin – he had a soft spot for her endearing pout – and was already forgetting all about Ronnie.

About 15 minutes later, he was knocking on her front door while wearing his best smile. When she opened the door, he heard a loud gasp escape her lips and his smile dropped instantly.

"Oh my god, Barry! What happened to you?" She squealed at him. Caitlin carefully took him by his arm and led him in her apartment, showing him her couch to sit on. She quickly padded to her bathroom and came back with her first-aid kit. She sat on her coffee table just in front of him and began looking through her stuff to patch him up.

Barry wanted to face palm himself. He had completely forgotten about his very likely to be bruised face. He winced as he tried to frown and realised that he was probably looking very bad right now. "It's just a cut." Barry moaned.

"Just a cut?! Have you seen yourself?" Caitlin protested and Barry shook his head in response. She took a mirror and turned it towards him. Barry was taken aback by his reflection. Looking bad was clearly an understatement, he was looking awful. He had a deep cut across his left eyebrow and blood was trailing down to his cheek where a bruise was taking shape. His lip was cut on its right side and some dried blood was visible under his nose.

"Oh… That's why the baker was looking so weirdly at me." Barry said without humour. "You should see the other guy…"

Caitlin rolled her eyes, not in the mood to joke around, and put the mirror down to take some antiseptic to apply on his wounds. "It's not funny, Barry. What happened to you?" She asked worriedly.

He tried to avoid her eyes by turning his head away, but she delicately put her fingers on his chin, where she knew she wouldn't hurt him, and turned him back towards her. "Sorry, but this might sting a little." She warned him as she applied he antiseptic-filled-cotton on his eyebrow to clean the cut.

Barry winced in pain when she made contact and tried to pull away, but she didn't let him. "Let me do my job, will you?" She scolded at him. She continued working on him solemnly while he didn't utter a single word, breakfast and coffee forgotten in the take-out bag next to him on the couch. He had no idea how she would react if he told her where he had gone this morning. But he knew he couldn't lie about it anymore. After all, you didn't get beat up at every corner of town and just forget about it.

He took the time to observe her face. A deep wrinkle was formed between her two eyebrows and was accompanied by a serious frown. There was a crease in her right cheek where she was probably chewing on her inner cheek to prevent herself from telling him off. Barry cursed himself mentally for putting her in that state, for worrying her so much.

When Caitlin was done cleaning the cuts and applying some soothing cream on his bruised cheek, she covered his eyebrow's cut with gauze. After that, they stayed in silence, looking at each other intently. He could see in her eyes how concerned she was.

"Are you going to tell me what all of this is about, slugger?" Caitlin finally said, her voice so soft that he almost couldn't hear it.

Barry tried to smile at her use of his old nickname, but cringed as the movement made the sting of the antiseptic come back. "You're probably going to be mad at me." He warned her. "And you'll probably regret patching me up."

Caitlin frowned even more. "What did you do?" She was getting nervous – he could feel it. The air between them was charging itself with electricity even if silence was reigning. It was way too much quiet, like the calm before the storm.

The young man looked away and whispered his answer. "I went to see Ronnie. And things got a little out of hand."

She just sat there for a few moments, mouth agape, staring at him. "You mean that you fought with Ronnie? Are you crazy?" Caitlin finally said.

"Yeah, I know it was a bad idea… but I was so angry, Cait." Barry tried to explain himself. "I didn't show it yesterday, because I had to be there for you. But this morning… I couldn't keep it in anymore."

"So you just went at him for a fist fight?" She asked incredulously, standing up from her spot on her coffee table. She began pacing nervously her living room.

"I was trying to protect you." He protested, following her with his eyes.

"You are so reckless sometimes… I don't need you to protect me. This is my fight, Barry!" She turned towards him, her eyes glistening.

"No, it's mine too. He tried to ruin us, remember? He's still trying to sabotage your life! And I can't let that happen, I care too damn much about you." He almost shouted. Barry couldn't go through another fight with Caitlin. And they always seemed to fight about the same damn thing. Ronnie. It was making his blood boil with anger. This had to stop.

Barry tried to stand up to join her, but had to wince as a sharp pain manifested itself in his stomach. He tumbled back down on the couch, putting his hand on his belly, trying to soothe the pain. A flash of Ronnie kneeing him in the gut passed through his brain. He probably had a nice new bruise there too that wasn't visible under his shirt.

Caitlin rushed to him, worry plastered all over her face, replacing all residual anger. "Are you alright?" She inquired with a distressed voice. He just cringed in pain as she carefully lifted his shirt to see. "Well he sure did a nice work with you." She fretted. Barry tried to snicker, but just winced more. The young doctor left him for a few moments and came back with an ice pack. "Stand still." She asked as she put the pack against his stomach.

"Thanks." He mumbled gratefully, lying back on the couch and closing his eyes as the cold rushed through his body to lessen the pain.

Caitlin carefully sat next to him and tenderly stroked his bruised-free cheek. "I thought you wanted us to deal with this together… You said it yesterday."

"Hmm." He groaned, leaning further against her hand for her to keep stroking. "I don't know what came over me."

While keeping a hand on his cheek, she put her other arm on the back of the couch behind his head and carefully gathered him against her chest. "Well, I think you went all Neanderthal when you saw me hurting." She joked softly.

Barry's twinkling eyes flew up to meet hers and her laugh died in her throat. Every punch was worth it, if it meant he could stay with her like this forever. Barry would do it all over again if it meant being in her arms like that. They stared at each other intently, neither could look away and so much energy was crackling between them. She felt herself shiver under his stare. They didn't need words to understand each other. A simple look could say more than a thousand words. Three particular words were just on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't get herself to open her mouth to free them. _It's way too early_ , she thought, _I'm not ready_. Caitlin finally looked away blushing like a schoolgirl. She waved her fingers through his hair and he moaned in contentment, closing his eyes again and snuggling closer to her.

She felt her heart swell, almost bursting out of her chest. She had never felt this way – It was almost terrifying. "We should probably go find that big fluffy pink elephant you had as a kid, and take a photo of you both." She teased, trying to reduce the tension floating around them.

Caitlin felt Barry's chuckle against her neck where he had buried his head. "Don't make fun of me, I loved that elephant." He mumbled.

"I'm not." She protested. "I was just thinking that it would be cute to have both pictures together in a frame."

"Yeah… right… You're just teasing me because you didn't get your morning coffee yet." Barry pulled away a bit to look up to her. "Which is probably cold by now. But I'm sure the bear claw I bought for you is still delicious."

Caitlin beamed at him at the mention of the pastry. "You're right, I'm famished. Let's eat it."

She grabbed the take-out bag lying next to her and brought out the pastries and the two cups of coffee. Sure their beverages were cold and they made a mess with the bear claws and its crumbs on her couch, but it was probably one of the best breakfasts they ever had, tangled together and feeding each other while joking and sharing kisses now and then.


	19. Make A Wish

"Come on Barry, it'll be fun! Plus, it's been a while since we went out with the gang..."

"I know... but maybe I want to keep you all to myself..."

Caitlin's heart fluttered. It had been a week since Barry and Caitlin had admitted to their feelings and she was still as effected by his sweetness as the first day. It had been one of their most precious weeks of their lives. While their friends knew both of them were back on speaking terms, Barry and Caitlin preferred to keep their relation under the radar. Basically, Iris, Eddie and Joe were the only ones who knew. Ronnie had his suspicions, but was out of town for a few days. She had decided to put her anger against Ronnie aside for the time being and to just enjoy her time with Barry.

Caitlin rolled her eyes, even if Barry, at the other side of the phone line, couldn't see her. She was currently at work but had decided to give him a call while no one was around at the lab. So there she was, smiling goofily at her microscope, speaking to her secret boyfriend, enjoying the thrill of sneaking around. "It's your birthday, we should be celebrating with our friends."

She heard him sigh. "I guess… if that's what you want…"

Caitlin's dopey smile dropped instantly. "Oh no, don't go all _puppy-Barry_ on me. If you don't want to do anything special, than fine, we'll stay indoors and have a quiet evening. But that's what we've been doing all week. Don't you think the others want to celebrate with you? Or even just see your face?"

She could perfectly see him shrug at his desk, without even being in the same room as him. "I do like our quiet evenings." He whispered softly.

Caitlin gently nodded and bit her lower lip. "Hum… Me too." Barry was probably the only guy on earth who could make her blush so easily, without even being with her.

"But you're right, Cait. We should go out and celebrate." He finally admitted.

"Perfect, you won't regret it. I'll talk to Felicity about it." After a moment of silence, she decided to tease him a little. After all, it wasn't fair if he was the only one able to make the other blush in this relationship. "And if the evening happens to be a disaster, I promise, I'll make it up to you."

She let out a satisfied laugh when she heard him groan on his side. "You better." Barry muttered.

At that moment, Cisco came in the room and strolled on over to her desk. "Hey, watcha doin'?" He asked, chewing on a red vine.

"I'll talk to you later, ok?" She quickly said into her phone. "Bye." And Caitlin hung up before looking at her friend. "Hey Cisco."

Cisco nodded towards her. "Was that Barry? Tell him he owes me twenty bucks!"

Caitlin rolled her eyes. Cisco and Barry were always betting on everything and nothing, like two kids. She didn't even want to know what the last bet was about. "No... it was Iris." She quickly lied.

Cisco eyed her curiously. Then his eyes opened wide as something dawned on him. "Girl! You've got the glow!"

"The what now?" She asked, frowning.

"The glow!" He practically squealed.

Caitlin shook her head and turned her attention back on the microscope she was working on. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Ramon."

He chuckled. "Sure you do! You've got the sex glow."

Caitlin's elbow slipped from the table she was leaning on and she dropped the sample she was about to study, on the floor. She turned a flushed face in her friend's direction. "I do not!" She vainly protested.

"Yeah you do!" Cisco insisted. "Come on, spill it. Who's the lucky guy?"

Caitlin stood up to go grab a dustpan and a brush to clean up the shattered glass on the floor. "It's none of your business." She muttered on her way back.

"In case you forgot, frosty, I'm your best friend, so that gives me the right to know who your sleeping with."

She turned even more crimson red when she heard someone pass by in the corridor. She shushed him. "Geez, do you want the whole lab to know too?"

Cisco just chuckled at her behaviour and whispered. "So, are you going to let me in on the big secret?"

Caitlin rolled her eyes. She perfectly knew he would never give up and let her get back to work. So she took a deep breath and mumbled something.

"What was that?" He asked. "I didn't quite hear it the first time."

She glared at her best friend and repeated louder. "Barry."

A big smile spread on Cisco's face as he punched the air before him. "Awesome." He whispered. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Caitlin kneeled under her desk to clean up the mess. "Because, I kind of like keeping it a secret for the time being. It's like we're living in a bubble." She added dreamingly.

"Well, good luck with that." Cisco chuckled and took another red vine to chew on. "It won't last long."

She stood up again, putting what was left of her sample in a nearby glass trash. "I know. Anyway, we'll tell the others tomorrow night, for Barry's birthday, that we're 'back together'." She answered doing quote signs with her hands after putting the dustpan and brush back to their place.

"Cool! So what are we doing tomorrow night?" Cisco asked.

"Probably some quiet night out, have a few drinks in a bar. I still have to talk to Felicity about it. What do you think?"

"I'm in, whatever you guys want to do." He beamed like a kid on Christmas Eve.

"Thanks Cisco. Now can I go back to work?" Caitlin asked.

"Sure thing! Just keep me posted about tomorrow night." He answered as he made his way to leave her lab. He stopped at her doorway. "Oh, and by the way, I'm happy for you and Barry." He added smiling towards her.

Caitlin nodded and smiled thankfully towards her best friend, watching him stroll back to the corridors of S.T.A.R. labs with a pack of red vines in his hand.

* * *

"Where the hell is he? He was supposed to be here 30 minutes ago." Iris protested.

"You know Barry… He's always late, even for his own birthday." Caitlin answered with a light smile, playing with her beer glass already half empty.

"Well Cisco seems to have a nice time." Eddie remarked, nodding towards the young engineer sitting very close to Laurel at the bar.

"I think they look cute together. What do you think Oliver?" Felicity commented while nudging her boyfriend with her elbow. He just shrugged, not emitting his opinion, making Diggle smile next to him.

They were all sitting in their favourite booth in their favourite bar, waiting for Barry to celebrate his birthday. Cisco and Laurel were at the bar, getting drinks for themselves. Except they had been there for the past 15 minutes, flirting.

Iris turned towards Caitlin. "Did you see him today?"

The young doctor perfectly knew the question hidden behind this. Had she been with Barry this morning? Caitlin shook her head. "Nope, I just called him quickly at my coffee break to wish him happy birthday. He'll be here, don't worry."

Just then, Caitlin felt it, like a force was drawing her to it. Instantly, she knew he was in the room, she could feel it in every single one of her cells. She put her glass down and turned towards the entrance of the bar. There he was, standing and looking directly at her, his eyes wrinkling from his smile. It was like he had felt it too, and as soon as he stepped into the place, he knew were she was sitting. Caitlin's heart began speeding up like crazy, knowing that kind of special force couldn't possibly exist for real. Yet, there she was, living it right in this moment. "See, there he is." She said softly, more to herself than anyone else.

Barry made his way towards them and was greeted by a big and loud "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" from all his friends standing up and gathering around him when he arrived at their table. He was quickly overwhelmed by a lot of hugs, shoulders pats and handshakes from all of them.

When he could actually breath again, Barry glanced at Caitlin who hadn't had the chance to greet him yet. She was still sitting on the couch to the back of the booth and she made a movement with her head, telling him to come sit next to her. And that's what he did while the others sat back down again.

Caitlin had her eyes just for him, shutting their surroundings completely out. As soon as he settled down next to her, she ran her fingers through his hair while her other hand went to the back of his neck to bring his face closer to hers. "Happy Birthday." She breathed just before giving him a searing kiss.

A whistle from Laurel and a squeal from Felicity broke them apart. "Finally, you two sorted it out!"

Caitlin's heart fluttered, beaming at her friends while keeping a hand playing with the hair on the back of his neck, making him shiver. "It was just a little misunderstanding." She answered. Caitlin had never been a big fan of public display of affection, but right there, the sudden need to show everyone that Barry was hers was pretty overwhelming. Suddenly, she didn't want it to be a secret anymore.

And he didn't seem to mind. At all. He just sat closer to her, putting a hand on her knee and trailing his fingers there, under the table, while talking with his friends. They were all pretty at ease with each other and nobody seemed to notice the difference between the fake couple they were before and the real one they were now. Any difference detected would go under the _they-broke-up-and-are-now-glad-to-be-back-together_ category.

About an hour later, Iris took out a small birthday cake, while Felicity produced some candles from her bag. They put them in front of Barry and Oliver lighted the candle. Caitlin squeezed Barry's hand that was still on her knee and whispered in his ear. "Go on, make a wish."

His eyes sparkled in her direction before looking at the cake and closing themselves. Barry blew out the candle as multiple images of Caitlin were floating through his mind.

They tried to share the small cake with everyone and Barry ended up sharing his tiny piece with Caitlin. Not that he was complaining about feeding her cake. No way he would ever do that. Of course, he couldn't help himself from putting some icing from the cake on her nose.

"Barry!" She glared at him but that only elicited laughter from him. Caitlin soon joined him, chuckling at his childish behaviour. Barry took a napkin to clean up her nose, even if deep inside, he just wanted to lick the icing away from the tip of her nose, but that wouldn't be an appropriate public behaviour. And Caitlin would probably kill him for it. So he just swiped it away instead.

At that moment, as Caitlin was about to lean towards him to give him a thank you kiss, she felt Barry tense up as he looked somewhere behind her. She pulled back and turned too. Ronnie was standing at their table, accompanied by Thea and Roy. They wished Barry an "Happy Birthday" and apologised for their tardiness, then sat down with their drinks.

Caitlin could discern a fading bruise on Ronnie's cheek, where Barry had probably hit him the week before. No one seemed to notice the link between Barry's healing eyebrow and lip cuts with Ronnie's fading bruises. Well, no one, except Oliver.

"Did you two get into a fight?" He pointed out.

Everybody went silent for a moment, realising what Oliver was saying. Caitlin lowered her eyes and squeezed Barry's hand as she felt him freeze a little more, if that was even possible.

Ronnie tried to play the victim. "Ask Barry. He was the one knocking on my door with the intention of beating me up." He snarled.

Surprised looks focused on Barry, but he still wasn't moving. He wasn't even blinking. And you could almost see electricity running up the length of his back towards his neck and straightening the hair on his nape. Caitlin decided that it was enough; it was time to speak up her mind. She looked up at her ex and spoke very carefully. "Stop it with your mind games and manipulation, I'm sick of it. If Barry punched you, it was because you asked for it."

"I'm glad you're talking, Caitlin. You surely know we were literally fighting over you, right?" Ronnie answered, looking straight into her eyes.

"Oh believe me, I know!" Caitlin replied, anger rippling through her. "You're the reason we broke up in the first place, and we didn't even know it."

"I had to do everything in my power to get you away from Barry and back to me."

"We weren't even really dating!" She suddenly shouted.

It was out of her mouth before she could realise what she was about to say. Everyone stood so still that you could almost hear a fly passing by.

Barry fidgeted next to her, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand like he always did when he was feeling nervous. Every single one of their friends was staring at them. The ones that already knew (like Cisco, Iris and Eddie) looked compassionately from Barry to Caitlin and then back to Barry. Felicity and Oliver were both frowning, trying to put back together the puzzle pieces. Laurel was grinning happily, glad that something original was happening while Ronnie just stared at them mouth agape, without any emotion. There was a choking sound from Roy who was half spitting out his drink while Thea was lightly tapping on his back to help him catch his breath.

Seeing no other way out of this mess, Caitlin decided she was done lying to her friends. So she admitted to everything. "Surprise everyone! Barry and I were fake dating for the first few months… For personal reasons." She said, half laughing. "It's a long story. But now we're not faking anymore."

Felicity clapped in her hand. "Well, that is wonderful news! I'll need to know the whole story, but don't worry, we've got time." She winked at Caitlin.

"Since when aren't you guys faking anymore?" Laurel asked.

Caitlin glanced at Barry before answering. "Since our fake break-up."

You could almost see wheels turning in everyone's minds. After a long moment of silence, Ronnie frowned and asked something that was on his mind. "So… You mean that I did all of this for nothing?"

Something close to anger lighted back up in Caitlin's eyes. "Can I talk to you in private?"

He nodded and stood up, waiting for Caitlin. Barry caught her hand before she could move. "Do you want me to come with you?" He asked softly.

She smiled. "No, I need to do this alone. Don't worry. I'll be right back." She added with a kiss on his lips.

Ronnie and Caitlin went outside the bar, finding a quiet place to talk.

"I can't believe it was all a charade." He shook his head. "Is this some kind of even more twisted plan than mine, to get me back?" He asked hopefully.

Caitlin looked apologetically at him. "No, I'm sorry. It was more of an _'I'm-trying-to-move-on'_ kind of plan."

"Well, it seems like you achieved your goal." Ronnie remarked sarcastically.

She nervously bit her lip while lowering her eyes. "Yeah…" She looked up again. "Listen, I brought you out here, because I didn't want to tell you everything in front of the others. You're still a friend and I don't want to mess up your friendships with the gang."

His eyes filled with worry, not knowing what was coming. Caitlin seemed perfectly calm, but he definitely knew it was the most dangerous state she could be in. She could explode one moment or another and her words could be more painful than any punch Barry could give him.

"I was so in love with you…" She said quietly, almost wistfully. "When we were together, I even thought you were the love of my life. Even when you left me, I couldn't quite hold a grudge against you. And who knew, maybe someday we would have gotten back together, a few years after? But you know what? You ruined it all with your stupid plan to get me back." She took a deep breath before continuing. "A few weeks ago, when I thought of you, I could still remember the good times we had together. Now, I just feel anger. Your stupid game ruined our whole relationship. And I'll be damned if I let you do the same thing with Barry and me!"

Ronnie let his head fall, not looking at her anymore. Her words did hurt like daggers. But deep down, he knew he deserved every single one of them.

"You lost me completely, the day you decided it was a good idea to come between Barry and me, and hurt me even more on top of that. And that's on you. I've got nothing against you being in our group, or you hanging out with us. But you and me? You can forget it."

With that, Caitlin turned on her heels and went back inside the bar to join her friends, leaving Ronnie outside cursing himself for being so dumb.


	20. Pancakes To Die For

The smell of coffee brought her out of her deep sleeping state. Caitlin opened carefully her eyes as she rolled on her back to look at the other side of the bed. She couldn't help the look of disappointment when she realised she was alone in bed. She snuggled deeper under the covers, protecting herself from the morning freshness.

She didn't resist much to the temptation of the coffee smell coming out of the kitchen. _I'm weak against coffee_ , she thought smiling softly to herself. She carefully rose from the bed, took Barry's jacket from his chair when a shiver from cold ran up her back and padded to the kitchen. Caitlin stopped in the doorway, leaning against the frame, watching Barry in front of the stove, his back to her. He was only wearing some sweatpants and no shirt.

Caitlin stayed silent for a few seconds; enjoying the view of a shirtless Barry making pancakes in his kitchen while humming. Something about the whole scene made her heart flutter. "We should sleep at your place more often, if it means that you'll cook me breakfast first thing in the morning." She finally broke the silence.

Barry stopped humming and slightly turned his head to glance at her, a smile stretching is face. "Don't get used to it, I'm just trying to impress you with pancakes." He teased before turning back towards his pan.

Caitlin let out a small laugh and joined him, sneaking her arms around his waist and leaning her head on his back. "Well, I'm impressed." She whispered, which made him chuckle. She could feel his torso vibrating as he began humming again and she just snuggled closer against his back, enjoying the feeling.

After a few seconds, she began peppering kisses along his back, reaching his left shoulder blade and she rested her head there for a few moments. She appreciated every single small second she got to spend with him – and all of him. She was glad that the whole thing with Ronnie had blown over so that she could concentrate herself exclusively on Barry. They could finally move on.

He took the pancake out of the pan and put it on a plate. He then poured some dough in the pan to make another one. Caitlin ran her hands on his stomach; feeling lightly the form of his abs with the tip of her fingers. Barry tensed up, leaning forward on his hand.

"If you keep that up, I won't be able to finish breakfast." He breathed out.

Taking it as a challenge, Caitlin rose up on her tiptoes to pepper kisses along his nape and jaw as he slightly turned his head in her direction. One of her hand went up his torso, her fingers running against his skin, while her other hand went down to his crotch.

"Cait..." He groaned.

She carefully bit the lobe of ear and whispered in a husky voice. "I'm crazy about you."

Barry spun around as if he had just been hit by lightning, encasing her face between both of his hands and crushing his lips to hers. Her hands were lost for a few seconds, too shocked about his reaction to know where to go. Caitlin finally decided to settle her hands around his waste, splaying them against his back to bring him closer to her. He put so much force and passion in his kiss that she felt herself going backwards until her hips touched the table behind her.

She let out a gasp as she felt herself being trapped between his frame and the table. Barry took advantage of the situation and slipped his tongue between her lips to deepen the kiss. One of his hands stayed with its palm on her cheek, tangling his fingers in her messy hair, while his other went to her waist, gripping her, trying to eliminate any remaining space between them.

Caitlin felt the table behind her give up the resistance and slide across the floor as Barry continued pushing her against it, until it hit the wall of the kitchen with a loud "thump". She couldn't help but letting out a small laugh at the sound. But he seemed unfazed by it. Barry's lips left hers to descend along her jaw and neck, kissing her pulse point and making her laugh die in her throat, replaced by a loud moan.

"Barry." She whispered in his ear, letting one of her hand go down under his sweatpants, splaying itself across his behind. Without having any control over his movements, Barry thrust his hips against hers, making her gasp as she hit the table again. "Sorry" he breathed out against her neck and hauled her up on the table, placing himself between her legs.

"Oh… you really… don't have to apologise… for any of this." She difficultly breathed out, between kisses and moans.

Caitlin put both hands back on his face to bring it up towards hers. They paused for a moment, catching their breaths, looking lustfully at each other. Barry leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, breathing heavily against her lips. "I can't seem to get enough of you." He said softly. "You are the one driving me crazy."

It felt like her heart was about to explode. The world could be crumbling down around them; she didn't care, as long as she was in his arms. She pulled him close in her embrace, her lips searching his hungrily. A hand against his chest could feel his heartbeat being in a state of frenzy. Caitlin was glad to see she could have as much effect on him as he had on her.

She let herself melt completely as he leaned down again towards her to kiss her thoroughly. Without even realising it, Barry had sneaked a hand under her shirt, softly stroking her skin there, showing her his clear intentions.

It's exactly at that moment, when his hand was about to move up to her breasts while hers were about to go down, that they smelled something burning. There was a smacking sound as they both pulled apart.

"Your pancakes!" Caitlin squealed, disentangling herself from Barry, hopping off the table and turning off the stove. Barry just turned around and leaned back against the table she had just been sitting on, looking at her with lost eyes, still a bit shaken from what they had just been doing.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide. "My pancakes!" He squeaked as she was trying to remove the burnt pancake from its pan where it was stuck. She eyed him curiously and burst out laughing, seeing his distraught face.

"Aww, come on Barry, it's only one pancake."

"Yeah, but it was supposed to be the best one!" He whined like a little kid.

Caitlin raised an eyebrow at him, putting her hands on her hips, giving him a stern look. "You're telling me, that you would have rather finished cooking a perfect pancake than making out with me?"

He stopped dead on his tracks and slowly shook his head, eyeing her carefully. "I never said that…"

The frightened look on his face, in addition to his swollen lips from kissing, made her lose her serious one. "I'm just messing with your pretty little head." She giggled, dishevelling his hair affectionately with her hand.

Barry suddenly trapped her against the kitchen counter, leaning his head towards hers with a threatening gaze. "Well, I'm not sure I like it when you make fun of me." He groaned against her lips.

Her breath caught in her throat. "Just… Just a little… Teasing." She stuttered, her heart beating faster as he came closer. The heat in his stare was making her knees go weak. Caitlin saw a twinkling in his eyes just before he closed the gap between them and brushed his lips against hers. He could feel her shiver, from the tension floating around both of them. He just smirked against her lips before pulling away.

"Now we're going to eat these perfect pancakes. Because I didn't leave bed this early for nothing!" Barry calmly said, taking the pancake plate to the table, leaving Caitlin catching her breath against the counter.

She soon joined him after filling up a cup of coffee and sat next to him at the table, which was still against the back wall of the room because of their make out session. They were silently enjoying their pancakes while the tension around them was still tangible. It's only when Caitlin began nervously fiddling with her pancake that Barry broke the silence.

"You alright, Cait?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" She asked back, glancing quickly at him before looking back down at her plate.

"Because you're torturing these poor pancakes and they don't deserve it." He replied, pointing her plate with a finger.

She gave him a weak shrug before looking back at him. He let his fork drop on the table and put a hand softly on hers. "Hey, what are you so nervous about?"

Caitlin smiled at him lovingly and cleared her throat. "Hum… My parents are coming to visit me this week."

Barry chocked on the piece of pancake he had been chewing on and Caitlin had to pat on his back for him to get his breathing back to normal. "Your parents are coming? Here? Like in Central City? Here? To see you? And me? This week?!" He croaked while rambling. "Here?!"

Caitlin chuckled, feeling her nervousness evaporating in the air. "Am I detecting some anxiousness from you, Mr. Allen?" She teased him lightly.

"Oh but I'm absolutely not prepared for this." He half protested, half whined. "Why didn't you tell me sooner about it? So I could prepare myself mentally." He was agitated now. "And even physically. Who knows what your dad is going to do to me when he sees me."

"Relax, Barry! They're going to love you." Caitlin put a hand on his shoulder, trying to soothe him a bit as he was breathing heavily. "If you keep that up, you're going to go into hyperventilation."

"Well maybe that'd be better, I won't have to humiliate myself in front of them." He mumbled.

"Hey, look at me." Caitlin spoke in a firmer voice, placing her hands on each side of his face. As their eyes met, she continued talking. "You're one of the most important person in my life right now. You mean so much to me…" Her voice was softer and her eyes were almost sparkling that he lost himself in them. She leaned forward so that their noses were touching. "And that's why I want you to meet them. Because they're important to me, and so are you. And I didn't tell you before because I knew you would freak out about it." She smiled against his lips.

"I guess you're right… I just don't want to disappoint them." He whispered.

"You're not going to disappoint them Barry." She replied. He softly nodded before she closed the gap between them, kissing him tenderly and she felt him relax against her. "Now… Where were we?" Caitlin asked seductively, playing with the short hair at the back of his neck, like she always loved to do.

"Well, I don't really remember. Why don't you refresh my memory, darling?" Barry replied with a fake haughty tone, raising his eyebrows suggestively. She got up from her chair to straddle his hips, leaving the pancakes on the table while she kissed away all trace of nervousness off his face.

* * *

The place was so crowded; she almost couldn't see the tip of her nose. _Why did trains always had to be late?_ She rose on her tiptoes to try and see the timetable hanging above their heads. But someone always seemed to stand in her way. She huffed and got away from the high concentration of people. She walked towards the restrooms where fewer people were standing. A weird looking guy with a cap staggered near, making his way to the restrooms too.

An unsettling feeling took hold of her, but she hadn't time to think about it, as her phone rang. She frowned as she saw an unknown number being displayed.

"Dr. Snow speaking." She answered at the third ringing tone, tearing her eyes away from the staggering man who had just glanced back at her.

A big laugh echoed through her phone. "Here Mr. Allen." A voice she knew so well answered on the other side of the phone line.

She just rolled her eyes, as he laughed some more, making fun of her. "How should I know that it was you Barry? I don't know this number, where are you calling from?"

He started laughing again. "Oh don't tell me you answer all your other phone calls like this?!"

"I thought it was my dad!" Caitlin replied; a bit annoyed by his childish but endearing behaviour at the same time. "He's so damn proud about my doctor title, that he jumps on every occasion to hear it. And since I'm supposed to pick him up right now, it could've been him."

His laugh progressively died down. "They're not there yet?"

"No! The whole damn train station is like frozen. There is some electrical damage somewhere, so every train is going to be late, including the one with my parents." She sighed looking around her, it felt like the whole place was buzzing. "Anyway, you didn't tell me where you were calling from."

Barry chuckled. "I'm at the CCPD station. I borrowed the landline because my phone died. It's a busy day here today. Some bank thief got away from the cops and the whole city is looking for him. But he's wounded, so he shouldn't make it too far."

"Well good luck."

"I think I'm going to need that luck for later today, when I'm going to meet your dad." He said nervously.

"Aww! You're worried! I already told you, you shouldn't be, they are going to love you!" Caitlin replied softly. She had tried to convince him, but he was still nervous as hell to meet them.

"Yeah, hope so…" He sighed in the phone and she could almost feel his breath against her ear. "Anyway, just wanted to check on you before your parents arrived."

"That's sweet, thanks! I hope they'll be here soon. I'm kind of bored out of my mind here." Caitlin always thought that waiting was a waste of time. There was always something more interesting to do, something more valuable of her time.

"I feel for you. I wish I was there to keep you company." Barry softly spoke.

"Hum… Me too." She replied wistfully. Caitlin heard someone bark at Barry on the other side of the phone line. "Was that Captain Singh?"

He cleared his throat, ignoring her question. "Ok, I've got to go… See you later Snowflake!"

A deep dopey smile was plastered on Caitlin's face as she put her phone back in her bag. That man was impossible. But she couldn't help it, if her heart fluttered every time she thought about him.

The smile soon faded, as she heard a gun being cocked in her back. "Don't make a sound, just act normal." A deep bloodcurdling voice accosted her ear. "Now slowly move towards the restrooms."


	21. At Gunpoint

They entered the empty room and Caitlin heard the lock click behind her. Her heart began thumping in her ears, and she could feel beads of sweat running down her forehead. _"This is it. I'm going to die right here. In the public restrooms."_ She thought bitterly.

Caitlin felt the barrel of the gun pressing against the small of her back, to make her move towards the back of the room. She took a few cautious steps, trying not to do any sudden movements that could trigger her death.

"Turn around." She heard the man behind her say, his voice so cold she could almost feel her blood turning into ice. She did as she was asked to and faced the weird looking guy with a cap she had seen earlier.

"You're a doctor, right?" He asked, waving his gun in her direction. "I heard you talk on your phone." He added when he saw her frown.

Caitlin nodded and looked at him from head to toes for the first time. Her doctor's instincts told her that he wasn't feeling well. At all. He was breathing heavily, he was slumped on his right side and his left hand was pressing against his ribs while his right hand was clutching to his gun. She could see blood sipping through his T-shirt and sweat running down his face. This guy was surely about to faint from blood loss.

"I need your help." He croaked and her eyes met his red ones. "I need you to attend to my wounds."

Caitlin glanced around her and saw no other way out than the front door, which was locked. And there was no way she would make it out on time before he could shoot her. The only thing she could do was to help him out. Or at least do as he said.

"You're lucky I'm a medical doctor and not a literature doctor for example." She mumbled sarcastically.

He shook his gun in front of her. "Hey lady, don't make fun of me. Are you going to help or what?"

She put her hands up in surrender, trying to calm him down. It was clearly not the time to joke around. He could have a loose finger on the trigger. "Okay, okay, I'll help you. No need to get so excited."

He nodded and lowered his gun a bit. Caitlin glanced to her bag and then looked back at him. "There's only one problem… I don't have my stuff with me. I won't go far with water and toilet paper…" She remarked.

The man grunted, looking around himself too. While still carrying the gun, he grabbed his cap with his fingers and scratched the top of his head with his gun. He winced, as the movement seemed to hurt him, before putting his cap back on. "What do you suggest we do? 'Cause there's no way we're going out of here before you help me."

 _"Think, Cait! How could you turn this situation to your advantage?"_ she thought. The wheels were turning in her brain. So many ideas were coming and going through her mind and so few of them seemed manageable. The man in front of her was getting agitated and she needed to find a solution before he lost all control of himself and began shooting away in the room.

"Can I call my boyfriend?" Caitlin asked carefully.

His eyes flew up to meet hers and he raised his gun again. "Do you think I'm stupid?" He spat out.

She stayed with her hand in front of her, showing him she didn't want to harm him, showing him how vulnerable she was against him. "No, I swear I won't say anything! I'll just ask someone to bring me my safety kit so I can help you."

He shook his head frenetically. "I'm not dumb, there's a trap hidden behind all of this." His eyes were scrutinising every single corner of the room. "There's no camera in here, is it?" He asked nervously.

He was freaking out so much that he was checking up on this just now, after threatening her with a gun. That's when she remembered Barry telling her about his day at the station. _"Some bank thief got away from the cops and the whole city is looking for him. But he's wounded, so he shouldn't make it too far."_ Lucky her, she seemed to have found him without even looking for him, she thought drily.

"No mind games, I promise." She whispered, still showing him the palms of her hands.

He stared at her for a few minutes, trying to decide if she was telling the truth or not. "Fine." He finally grunted. "But if I hear anything that could sell me out, I won't hesitate to shoot, understood?"

Caitlin let out a puff of air and nodded. She carefully took her phone out of her bag and showed him what she was doing. She hit Barry on speed dial and waited for him to pick up. It went straight to his voicemail, sending her heartbeat into frenzy. With shaking hands, she tried to call him again. "Pick up, Barry, pick up." She whispered to herself.

Voicemail. Again.

That's when she remembered him saying, _"I borrowed the landline because my phone died."_ She wiped her sticky hands on her pants, cursing Barry for not charging his phone. Caitlin glanced up at her assailant who had his eyes glued on her and her phone, inspecting every single move she was doing.

"I'll call him at work." She informed him before going back in her call history as he nodded, and choosing the last number Barry had used. While it was ringing, the man took her phone to put it between them and put it on loudspeaker.

Two ringing tones later, someone spoke. "CCPD station, Hello?"

Time stopped for Caitlin. How could she have been so reckless? Of course they would answer the phone like that. What was she thinking? The man next to her reacted the second he heard the policeman speak. He pressed the gun to her temple and she saw his finger move on the trigger. The pressure of the gun was almost painful, if she forgot about the fact that a single movement of a finger could be the death of her.

"Hello? Do you have an emergency?" The policeman spoke again.

It felt like her blood had stopped running through her body, like every living cell was dying. She couldn't move, but every single one of her senses was amplified. She could feel every inch of the gun against her temple, she could hear every single one of her heartbeats in her chest, she could smell sweat gathering on her skin, she could taste the bitter sensation of bile going up her throat. And finally, she could see her life right in front of her eyes. The young doctor carefully turned her head towards her assailant, feeling the gun slide against her skin until its barrel was pressed against her forehead. She looked straight into his eyes, pleading him to trust her.

"Hello?" The man on the other side of the line began being impatient.

The wounded man slowly nodded to her while pressing his gun further against her skin, letting her know that one wrong move and it was over.

She took the phone to her lips and cleared her throat. "Hello? Yes, sorry, the cell reception here isn't really good." She improvised. "Dr. Snow speaking. Could I … Could I talk to Mr. Allen, please?"

"What division?"

"Forensics." She breathed out in relief as she felt the pressure on her forehead lessen up.

"I'll put you through, Dr. Snow." And the line went to some classical music. Tension was still crackling in the room and Caitlin could feel more and more beads of sweat running down her face. _"I can't end like this. Please…"_ She thought. They waited in silence as a Beethoven symphony was playing on the small device.

"Dr. Snow?"

Caitlin could have sworn that her heart had stopped right at that moment, when Barry had finally picked up the phone. It felt like an eternity since the last time she heard his voice, and not half an hour or so. His voice was light and teasing. If she got out of this mess alive, she would never hear the end of him teasing her about how she responded to her phone calls.

"Hi, it's me." She answered softly.

"Is everything okay? Are your parents there yet?"

"No… Not yet…" Her voice was weak and she had to put her act back together if she didn't want to get a bullet through her skull. "Listen, Barry, I need your help. Are you busy?"

"Actually yes… But if you need me, I'll manage to free some time up for you."

Could her heart swell more? She didn't think so. There he was, having a big day at the police station, probably overwhelmed with work, but he was ready to put it all aside for later, to help her. And he didn't even know she was in _real_ trouble.

"Thanks." She squeaked out of emotion, her voice was shivering and she glanced at the man in front of her, pleading with her eyes to let her live.

Caitlin heard Barry pause on the other side of the line. "Are you alright Snowflake?" He asked softly.

Her abductor pressed the gun back forward against her forehead. The beads of sweat on her forehead made their way down her temple and made her hair stick to her skin. _I would give anything for a shower right now…_ She thought. Though she would give really anything to just get out of here. "Yeah yeah, sorry, I'm just a little cold right now. Listen, I need you to bring me my first aid kit I have at S.T.A.R. labs."

"You need it right now? Can't it wait until later?" He asked in disbelieve.

"Yes Barry, it's kind of urgent." She tried with a firmer voice.

"But… Why?"

She was thinking of every way possible she could convince him it was urgent, without selling herself out and endanger her life. She cleared her throat. "Hum… It's kind of a _lady_ problem, if you know what I mean?" In any other situation, she would be beat red right now – She had never imagined she would one day talk about _lady problems_ with Barry. But the barrel pressing against her skin was making her face whiter than bed sheets.

"Oh." She heard him say awkwardly. "Right. I'll be right there. Where are you exactly?"

"The lady's rooms?" Caitlin remarked with sarcasm.

It was Barry's turn to clear his throat. "Right, I should've thought of that. I'll call you when I'm there."

She could feel that he was about to hang up and she hadn't said anything that would suggest that she was in danger. "Oh and Barry?" She took a deep breath. It was now or never. "Cait called earlier. She said she needed Joe's help. Can you pass the message? Thanks!"

She really hoped he would get her hidden message and that her abductor wouldn't, because it would be the death of her. She hoped she wasn't mistaken when she thought that her assailant didn't know her first name nor her nickname. Maybe her plan was working as she could hear Barry's breathing change a little and the pressure of the gun against her skin lessening.

Yet, she had this bad feeling at the bottom of her belly, like it was the last time she would ever speak to Barry. Caitlin's eyes met the man's, trying to read his mind. _Would he really pull the trigger if he had the chance? Would he really kill her if she made one wrong move?_ But his poker face was perfect. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She wasn't sure she would have the opportunity to say this to Barry, yet she couldn't bring herself to say it now. _Not like that_ , she thought. Those three words were floating in her mind, but she absolutely wanted to see Barry's face when she would say them. So she said three other words instead, before closing her mouth again. "Hurry up, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll be there in a flash." Barry answered, his voice being more serious than a few moments ago, before the line went dead.

The wait was awful. It felt like time stopped. An eerie silence was floating around them. Caitlin was leaning against the sink, arms crossed across her chest, while he was pacing in front of the bathrooms stalls, his eyes never leaving her. His left hand was still pressing against his ribs and he was wincing at the mere movement. Yet he continued pacing in front of her. He had lowered his gun and Caitlin glanced at the door. As soon as he saw the direction of her eyes, he raised the gun again, with a trembling hand.

Caitlin carefully raised her hand in surrender. "I'm not going anywhere." She said softly and he lowered his gun again. There was no way she would have time to go to the door, open it and get out without him shooting her. She wasn't going to risk it.

 _Barry is coming…_ She repeated to herself.

* * *

"Joe, I have to go!" Barry protested.

"No, Barry, you're not going anywhere in this state!" The detective answered with a firm voice. "We've got a team on the way, everything is going to be ok."

Barry rolled his eyes and threw his arms up in the air. "Cait is in real trouble! I can feel it. If a bunch of police officers barges in the Central Station's bathrooms, something is going to go wrong. I have to be the one going in!"

"No, it may be too dangerous." Joe retorted.

Barry squeaked at the comment. "That's why I have to go! Cait's in there!"

Joe put his hands on Barry's shoulders to keep him in place and looked straight into his eyes. "Listen, son. I know how much Dr. Snow means to you. But you've got to let me do my job here. It's the only way the bring her to safety. We have no idea what is going on behind those closed doors. So give me some time to figure it out and everything is going to be fine." He said in a soft and calm voice, trying to soothe Barry down.

The young forensics expert slowly nodded. "I'm going up in my lab, to see if there is anything I can do to help with the search."

Joe smiled. "That's my boy. Don't worry, we'll get her back!"

Barry waved at him and made his way to the stairs. As he was about to put his foot on the first step, he glanced back at the detective who had turned around to his desk and was now talking to another officer of the law. It was Barry's cue to deviate from the stairs and to rush towards the elevator, pushing repeatedly on the down button as if it would make the moving cabin arrive faster.

There was no way he would stay here while the others would try to help his girlfriend. He would go crazy here, waiting for some news, feeling guilty because he wasn't doing his upmost best to help her. He would get her first-aid kit and do as she asked. And then he'll figure something there. He had to know in which situation she was.

 _Cait, I'm coming!_ He promised in his mind as he stepped into the elevator and pressed on the "close doors" button like a crazy man.


	22. Breathe

"Can I at least drink something?"

Caitlin could feel her throat drying up because of the stress and probably the hyper-production of adrenalin her body was currently doing. She could hear drops of water falling from the tap and hitting the sinks right behind her and she couldn't help herself from swallowing hard. She winced at the rough feeling it sent through her body.

The man in front of her had stopped pacing around in the room and was now leaning on one of the stalls, taking ragged breaths and blinking in her direction. His state was worse than it was 15 minutes ago when she had called Barry. The man hadn't said a word since. He just nodded in the direction of the sinks to give his approval. But he carefully lifted his gun again, just in case she would suddenly bolt towards the door.

Caitlin cautiously turned around and let some water flow down the drain, before cupping her hands under the flow to catch some of it to carefully sip. She sighed in contentment as the liquid made its way down her throat and soothed the raspy feeling. She glanced in the mirror and met the man's eyes.

"You should drink something too, it would do you some good." Caitlin commented. But he just shrugged, keeping his gun pointed in her direction. She let out a puff of air before bowing again to drink more.

A loud knock on the door startled her and made her splash water on her face. Caitlin saw the man behind her approaching with his gun, nodding silently towards the door. She turned off the water and another knock sounded in the room followed by someone trying to open up the door.

She felt the barrel of the gun pressing against the small of her back and she made her way towards the noise.

"Snow? Are you in here? It's Barry." His voice was muffled by the thickness of the door.

She glanced back at her abductor who showed her, with a finger on his lips, to stay silent. He skirted around her to place himself just behind the door, his gun still aiming at her, and then pointed the door handle with a finger. She shook her hands to dry them a bit before opening just slightly, so that the gap between the wall and the door was just enough for her head to fit.

Caitlin saw Barry look up at her and something lighted up in his dark eyes and the frown on his face seemed to relax a bit. "Hey." His voice was cracked, filled with worry.

Caitlin couldn't get herself to say a word, her throat blocked with emotions. She just gave him a faint smile, trying to speak with her eyes instead. The lingering look he gave her in response, in addition with his clenched jaw, was enough. He understood something was wrong and determination was written all over his face.

Barry raised one arm to show her the bag he was holding. Her first aid kit. She made a move to take it, but felt the gun dig into her side at the same time. Her assailant couldn't see what she was about to grab, so he made sure she wouldn't do anything stupid, with enough pressure.

Caitlin took a deep breath and extended her hand to grab the bag. Her fingers grazed against Barry's and she lingered there, while his thumb began stroking softly her hand. The mere movement of his finger made shivers run up her arm and spine. How she had missed the feel of his skin. What she would give to just be able to throw herself into his arms and just find comfort there. Would she ever have the occasion to do it again?

Their eyes hadn't left each other, still looking intensely, never wanting to break the contact. It seemed like they stayed in this position for centuries. The spell was broken when she felt the gun dig deeper into her side. She slightly shook her head at Barry, took the bag and whispered. "I have to go."

Caitlin saw Barry's face fall as he heard her talk, but sadness was soon replaced by determination again. "See you later." He said with a firm voice.

She gave him a smile, her eyes lingering on his face, and was about to pull away when he stopped her as he took a deep breath. "Cait, I …"

He hadn't even time to finish his sentence that Caitlin was pulled behind with force, and the door was shut down a few seconds later. He then realised the monumental mistake he had just made. He had called her "Cait" and had sold them out in the process…

Caitlin winced as her abductor was gripping at her arm with so much force. That would surely leave a nice mark, she thought bitterly. But now wasn't the time to think about later. She heard the clear sound of the gun being cocked against her forehead as she stared right into the eyes of her assailant.

She heard Barry throw himself at the door, banging against it. "Let her go!" He shouted.

The gunman didn't seem to mind the banging, he was just leaning so close against Caitlin that she could smell his sweat and blood. "You ratted me out to your boyfriend, you little minx!" He spat in her face. "Too bad he's not smart enough for you!" He snickered, pressing further against her.

Barry was still banging against the door, shouting. The stranger seemed to realise what was happening and decided to take care of it. He grabbed Caitlin by her blouse and threw her on the floor with so much force that she slid on the tiles, hitting the back wall with the length of her body. She let out a gasp of pain as she stopped sliding. She just had time to glance up to see the man open the door wide, grabbing Barry who had a surprised look on his face, and pinning him against the wall, the gun going up to his temple, after locking the door again.

He pressed Barry against the wall with the length of his whole body, making it hard for the young scientist to breathe.

"You thought you were smart, huh?" The man snickered into Barry's face. "Well, not smart enough! Your little slip up is going to cost you! Won't be able to save your sweetheart now, huh?" He gave Barry a big toothy smile that was more than creepy.

"Let her go." Barry croaked, fighting against the man's grip, trying to free his throat.

"You're not really in a position to negotiate." He replied. He pushed Barry once more against the wall – Caitlin winced at the sound of Barry's skull hitting the hard surface behind him – and then let him go, but keeping his gun pointing right at him. He glanced at Caitlin who had taken a sitting position, her back against the wall and had a hand soothing her arm, where the man had gripped her forcefully a few moments ago.

The man spoke again. "Now, the young lady here is going to treat me. And if she does something wrong, she can say bye-bye to her dear boyfriend."

Caitlin's scared eyes found Barry's, at the other side of the room, and couldn't seem to find the thing there that always seemed to reassure her during tough times. Was it because there was no solution to their predicament?

Their abductor appeared to lose some patient and shook his gun in direction of Barry. "Okay, okay!" Caitlin lifted her hands and slowly stood up. "I'll do it! Just don't hurt him, please." She begged.

The man grinned at her. "That's more like it. Now get to work, lady."

Caitlin ignored the condescending tone he had and picked up her first-aid-kit. "Could you go sit on the sinks? It'll be easier like this." She asked cautiously. The man complied without a word, but kept his gun pointed at Barry.

Caitlin took a pair of sterile gloves and began lifting the man's shirt to see how bad he was hurt. A nasty gunshot wound was visible on his right side and a few bruises were dispersing themselves across his chest. The whole room was in complete silence, except for a few noises Caitlin made during her inspection, diving back into "Doctor Mode". She let the shirt cover back the wounds and turned towards the bag Barry had brought her. She took her time to rummage a bit through it, till she found some antiseptics and some cotton pads.

She then turned back to her patient and began applying some of her product to clean his wounds. The man began groaning and wincing at every movement she made. It was surprising how long he had been able to handle the pain of a bullet wound and massive bruises, but couldn't handle the simple sting of antiseptic. She gave up when he practically sprang off the sinks to avoid the touch of the cotton pad.

"You do realise, that if I can't touch you, I won't be able to treat you…" Caitlin remarked bitterly, rolling her eyes at him.

"Don't you have some painkillers in there?" Barry suddenly asked, out of nowhere.

Caitlin glanced back at him curiously. Not being a regular medical practitioner, she wasn't allowed to carry strong painkillers around and Barry knew that. If she had painkillers in her bag, it would be again cramps or headaches. Not gunshot wounds.

But Caitlin saw the significant look Barry was giving her. She looked back into her bag and found what he was probably talking about. There, at the bottom of her bag, was a small syringe with a colourless liquid in it. On the syringe was a sticker with "Painkillers" written on it. Caitlin frowned. First, it wasn't her handwriting. Second, she would never have written this on a syringe. She would've written the name of the molecule, its pharmacology class, the concentration of the solution, the dose to give according to the body mass and so on… "Painkillers" was way too simple for her.

Her eyes flew up to meet Barry's that were looking at her intensely, slightly nodding his head. It was against all her believes, to inject something unknown into a patient's body, to take the risk of hurting the person because of a lack of knowledge about the situation. But right now, she had to trust Barry. The gun pointing at him helped her make the final decision.

She turned towards the injured man and showed him the syringe she held in her hand. "Okay, I'll give you this, it will lessen the pain, so that I can treat you properly."

The man barely paid attention, his eyes still fixed on Barry to make sure he wouldn't make a stupid move, and he just nodded in response to Caitlin.

The young doctor cleaned a spot on the inner side of his arm and carefully introduced the needle through the skin. She then took a deep breath and slowly pressed on the plunger, gradually administrating the drug in his system. After emptying the syringe, Caitlin cleaned the skin and applied a plaster on the injection site. She then continued her work on his wounds. The man seemed to relax a bit, wincing less and less at Caitlin's ministrations and was gradually closing his eyes. And suddenly, he fell forward, his forehead landing on Caitlin's shoulder.

She let out a surprised yelp as she felt his weight on her. She carefully pushed him backwards and he fell heavily against the mirror behind him. Caitlin glanced at Barry and saw in his eyes the relief he was currently feeling. His shoulders sagged and he let out a big puff of air. And two seconds later, she was engulfed into his arms.

And suddenly, Caitlin felt a weight being pulled off her chest, experiencing a similar state of relief as Barry. She felt safe again, she felt home in his arms. She snaked her hands under his arms and returned the hug fiercely. She felt him bury his head into her hair and take a deep breath. He sighed in contentment.

She couldn't quite believe that she was in his arms right now, that he was whispering: "You're safe" on and on in her ears and that nobody got killed. After what felt like an eternity, she carefully pulled back from his embrace and her eyes met his.

"Did you put that syringe in my bag?" She asked softly.

Barry gave her a bright smile. "Yep, just before coming her." He said proudly. "I figured it could always come handy, and I was right!"

Caitlin let out a shaky laugh before snuggling closer to him. "We should probably get out of here." She finally croaked; her voice submerged with emotion. Barry just nodded, took her hand and made his way to the door. The moment they stepped out of the room, they were met with a dozen of guns.

" _Not again"_ was the first thought that went through Caitlin's mind. But then she spotted Joe making his way though the armed policemen, shouting: "Don't shoot!". And just like that, all guns were lowered and Caitlin could breathe properly again. Until they were monopolised again with questions and medical examinations.

Joe had reprimanded Barry for his reckless behaviour before hugging him, relieved that his son was safe and sound. And just rolled his eyes when the young forensic scientist had remarked that they hadn't even needed the CCPD's help to get out of there.

A squad of policemen barged into the restrooms and came back a few moments later, carrying an unconscious wounded man. He would be taken good care of and would probably end up in jail. But at least he would be treated correctly and not in some public bathrooms.

In the middle of all that action, Caitlin had lost Barry somewhere. And since that moment, she felt an uneasy feeling at the bottom of her stomach. She knew that the only thing that would be able to soothe that feeling would be Barry's presence at her sides. She was still being thoroughly checked up on when she spotted him not far away from where she was sitting. Suddenly, the urge to be back into his arms was too overwhelming. Caitlin stood up, ignored the protesting paramedics and made her way towards him, almost running.

Barry saw her just as she was throwing herself into his arms. His surprise quickly passed by and he softly stroked her hair. "Sshh, it's okay, I'm right here." He whispered as he felt her shaking.

She broke the embrace and looked up at him. His eyes were shining and she could remember every single time she got lost in them. And suddenly, the uneasy feeling was gone.

"I love you."

Those beautiful green eyes widened in surprised. Barry opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again, not finding the voice to reply. But they didn't need words to understand each other. So he softly cupped her cheeks and kissed her like it would be the last time he would ever have the chance to. Caitlin moaned at the contact of his lips on hers and lifted her hands to the back of his neck to bring him closer.

Barry pulled back to get some air and leaned his forehead against hers. Their eyes were twinkling with joy. Barry took a deep breath whispered something that sent her heart into frenzy. "I love you too." His raspy voice was like music to her ears. With her hands on the back of his neck, she pulled him towards her and crushed her lips on his.

They lost themselves into the kiss, barely taking breaks to breathe and diving back in a few seconds later. They didn't care about what was happening around them, they were in their own little bubble of happiness.

_Their own bubble of love._


	23. Family

Barry and Caitlin were still at the train station, cuddled up together on a bench, waiting for the whole debacle to end. Caitlin had her head on his shoulder and Barry had an arm around her, keeping her close. They hadn't left each other's side since their confession of love; they hadn't even broken contact. It was such a big source of comfort that they didn't want to end it. They didn't talk much; just being side by side was enough for them.

When things were gradually dying down, Caitlin looked up at him to ask him if they should maybe leave and he bent down to give her a soft kiss before she could say anything, lingering there for a few moments.

"Caitlin, honey? What is going on here?"

Caitlin pulled away from Barry's embrace and looked to the man behind her who had just been talking. "Dad." She whispered before standing up and going over to him for a hug. He was just a bit taller than her, had a few gray hair mixed with brown ones and the same kind eyes as Caitlin.

In the middle of everything, Barry had completely forgotten that her parents were supposed to arrive at the train station. His anxiety about meeting them had completely disappeared the moment he had found out that Caitlin was in danger. But now, the nervous feeling was back all at once with blowing force. He could see her dad eyeing him curiously while hugging his daughter and Barry's pulse skyrocketed.

That was not how it was supposed to happen, Barry thought. He had planned to do a really good first impression, being nicely clothed and very polite and everything. He was not supposed to be bruised, sweaty and tired, surrounded by cops and EMTs. And he also hadn't planned to be kissing Caitlin the first time her father saw him. This was going to be a disaster, he thought, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

Caitlin parted from her father and went to hug her mother who was standing a bit behind her husband. You could easily see the resemblance between mother and daughter. Except for the eyes. While Caitlin had kind hazelnuts eyes like her father, her mother had deep wise blue eyes.

Barry looked away from Caitlin and her mother to look back at her father who was still staring at him. He felt his pulse still rising and his breathing accelerating. A small smile drew itself on the older man's lips as he approached Barry. He presented his hand. "You must be Barry." He said softly.

The young scientist nodded hurriedly, rubbed clumsily his hand on his shirt to dry off the stress-sweat accumulating there and accepted her father's hand. "That's me." He croaked.

Inside his head, Barry was cursing himself. He was losing all his abilities in front of the older man. How was he supposed to make a good impression if he couldn't even say a whole sentence without his voice crackling?

"You look a bit distressed, young man. What happened here?" Her father continued; mirth mixed with worry shining in his eyes, as he looked around curiously at the crowd.

Barry opened his mouth to explain everything, but no sounds came out. Thankfully, Caitlin decided to interrupt them just at that moment. "It's a long story dad, we'll tell you all about it later. What do you think about getting home? We're both tired and I think Barry and I could use a shower."

Barry nodded in relief, maybe with too much conviction. "Yes, we need to shower." He said, his voice going a bit too much in the higher notes. "Separately… The shower… Not together…" He added awkwardly when he saw Caitlin's father raise an eyebrow at him.

Caitlin's mother let out a small chuckle and whispered to her daughter. "Oh, I like him." Which earned her a grateful smile from the young doctor.

" _Oh I like him too, so very much."_ Caitlin said to herself.

* * *

After a long hot shower at his place, Barry readied himself to head out and join Caitlin and her parents at her apartment. They had gone each their own way to avoid any awkwardness for Barry if he would've showered at her place. And it would also allow her to have some alone time with her parents.

Barry was now thinking very hard about what he should wear tonight. After changing outfits for the fifth time, he desperately shook his head and just chose to wear jeans and Caitlin's favourite button-up shirt, before finally getting out.

The wait in front of her apartment was pure torture. He could hear laughter from the other side of the door, but he couldn't help feeling nervous about joining them. What if they hated him? What if they thought he wasn't good enough for their daughter?

Every ounce of nervousness seemed to evaporate in the air as Caitlin opened her door with a bright smile on her features. Who would've thought that a few hours ago she had been at gunpoint in locked bathrooms? She seemed so at ease at the moment, that her presence calmed him immediately.

She gave him a sweet kiss before catching his hand and bringing him inside. "My mother cooked dinner while I was showering. You are going to have the best dinner you ever had!" Caitlin winked back at him before leaving him alone in her living room with her father to join her mother in the kitchen.

"Barry! Would you like a glass of wine?" The older man asked him. For a fraction of a second, Barry wondered if it was a trick question. But he then decided to loosen up a little. Being so nervous wouldn't get him anywhere. So he gratefully accepted the glass of wine he was presented. "So, Caitlin tells me you work with the CCPD?"

Barry nodded. "That's right. I'm a forensic expert."

"That's nice. Must be a very interesting work that you do."

The young man let out a puff of air in relief. He could do this. Talking about his work was always a pleasure. "It's amazing, I love what I do."

"Good." Caitlin's father stated and took a sip of his own drink. After a few moments of silence, he talked again. "I heard about what you did earlier. It was very brave of you and I can't thank you enough."

Barry felt like being scanned by her father, like he could see right through him. "You don't have to thank me. I actually had a pretty selfish behaviour." He admitted with a small smile. "I have no idea what would've happened to me if she got hurt. So really, plain selfish."

Caitlin's father let out a loud chuckle and threw him a thankful look. "Well, thank you for being selfish, young man."

They were joined a few minutes later by the women and spent a lovely evening together, sharing stories and knowledge. Barry's nervousness was quickly replaced with a comfortable feeling. Caitlin's parents easily made him feel like he was already part of the family.

The dinner was exquisite and Barry kept complimenting Caitlin's mother on her cooking skills. When she asked him if he liked to cook, Barry awkwardly mentioned his skills to make pancakes, and occasionally burning them, which brought a deep blush on Caitlin's cheeks.

Her parents seemed very happy with her choice of boyfriend, they kept asking him about his job and hobbies, and seemed more than satisfied with his replies. And the feeling was mutual. Barry just loved her parents. Caitlin's father may seem strict and scary at first, but was actually really sweet and funny. While her mother was as lovely and as caring as her daughter. She had that motherly warmth Barry had missed for the most part of his life after losing his parents.

When her parents finally excused themselves to go to bed at the end of the evening, Barry went to the kitchen to help clean up before making his way to the front door.

"What do you think you're doing?" Caitlin stopped him as he was taking his jacket from the coat-rack.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Hum… I'm going home?" He replied, suddenly unsure of himself.

In a few steps, Caitlin was in front of him and took away his jacket, putting it back where it had been a few moments ago. "You're not going anywhere except my bedroom." She said quietly, her eyes never leaving his.

Barry nervously glanced at the guest bedroom while gaping at her. "You know your parents are literally in the room next to yours." He whispered, scared to be heard by her guests.

Caitlin let out a small chuckle. "We won't be doing anything except sleeping, obviously… and a bit of cuddling too." She then turned serious again. "But after what happened today, I really don't want to be alone in my bed right now. I need to feel your warmth beside me." She said softly, her eyes looking down to the floor.

Barry's heart constricted with emotions. It meant so much to him that she would take off all of her different layers of protections in front of him like that. She was there, being so vulnerable, while the whole evening it had felt like she hadn't been affected at all by the previous events of the day.

Barry carefully put his fingers under her chin to softly raise her face so that she would look at him. He tried to express all the feelings he had for her at that moment with a single look. And if he read correctly her replying gaze, she understood. But just to make sure, he brought her closer to him to give her a sweet kiss that soon turned into a passionate one. As soon as their lips touched, Caitlin raised on her tiptoes and threw her arms around his neck, trying to bring him closer, while Barry was clutching at her waist, way too scared to let go.

She let her hands weave themselves through his hair, making a loud moan escape his lips. He pulled back breathlessly and flushed, leaning his forehead against hers. "If you… keep going on like that… I'm not sure I'll be able to… _just_ cuddle." He stuttered.

Caitlin smirked proudly and began peppering small kisses along his jaw and then going down the column of his neck. She could feel his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed with difficulty. "Cait…" He groaned, making his throat vibrating against her lips, which sent a shiver down her spine. "Your parents…" Barry finally managed to utter.

The young doctor sighed and stopped her ministrations to just snuggle up to him. "Let's get ready for bed." He added as she let out a loud yawn and they made their way to the bedroom.

He was putting on some sweatpants to sleep in when he heard her call for him from her bathroom. As he entered the room, he saw her frowning at him, the tube of toothpaste in her right hand.

"How many times do I need to tell you Barry?" She asked sternly. It was his turn to frown at her. "The toothpaste. Why do you keep pushing it from the middle of the tube and not the end, like every good sensed person would do?" Caitlin continued shaking her head.

Barry couldn't keep it in anymore. So he just burst into laughter. Caitlin goggles at him in disbelieve. "I'm serious, Barry!" She protested. "The next one to use the toothpaste, which is me by the way, always struggles to get toothpaste out!" She half whines while Barry was still half bent from laughter.

When Caitlin stopped talking, he glanced up at her and saw her glowering in his direction, hands on her hips, with a pout on her lips and frowning eyebrows. Barry couldn't help thinking she looked very cute and hot when she was mad at him. Maybe that was why he kept "misusing" the tube of toothpaste, just to see her bickering at him.

He suddenly sobered up, stood back straighter and closed the remaining space between them. He cupped her face with both his hands, looking intensely straight into to her hazel-brown eyes. Caitlin's breath caught in her throat under the intense stare he was giving her. She waited for him to do something, but they just stayed like that for a few moments, just staring at each other, before he leaned towards to kiss her softly but surely.

"What was that for?" She asked shakily as they parted.

"I love you so damn much." He simply whispered, before stealing the tube of toothpaste from her hand with a smirk and turning towards the sink to brush his teeth, pressing in the middle of the tube like nothing had just happened.

Caitlin rolled her eyes at him and pushed him playfully to grab her toothbrush and do the same as him. She couldn't believe they had reached that point of domesticity in their relationship. If anyone would see them right now, they would say they were presenting a really nice picture. The both of them, brushing their teeth in front of her bathroom's mirror, playfully bumping each other every few seconds, fighting to see who would finish first and who would be the first ready for bed.

And that's how they finished their eventful day, giggling and playing until they fell asleep in each other's arms, safely snuggling under the covers.


	24. Epilogue

_[4 years later]_

"Oh come on Barry, get out of there! It can't be that bad!"

Caitlin heard a groan coming from the other side of their bathroom's door. She rolled her eyes and quickly fixed her hair with the help of a mirror. She glanced at her watch and sighed. They were going to be late again. Not that it was unusual, but still! They should really get on their way.

"Barry!" She called again.

She heard some rustle on the other side of the door and expected it to open itself. But no, it stayed shut.

"Why are you doing this to me Cait?" He complained with a squeaky voice from the inside of the bathroom.

Caitlin let out a puff of air. "Oh don't be such a baby, you wore it once before, right?"

"Yes, but that was different! I have more self-respect now." He replied with annoyance.

The young woman snickered. "Yeah, right…" She muttered.

"I heard that!" He exclaimed.

Caitlin stayed silent for a few moments, knowing it would rile him up. She was proved right when soon after, the door opened and Barry faced her with a sulky face. Caitlin couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips at the sight of him.

"Oh great, and now she's laughing." Barry grumbled. As he was about to turn around a lock himself up in the bathroom again, Caitlin grabbed one of his arms and steadied him in front of her. The smile was gone from her face as she cupped his.

"I'm sorry for laughing." She whispered honestly, looking straight into his deep-green eyes.

Barry nodded in acceptance and shrugged. "I still don't get why I have to wear this."

Caitlin looked at him like he had grown a third eye. "Hum… Because it's a costume party?"

"Haha, very funny Dr. Snow."

She smiled softly. She took a second to look at him carefully. The red costume was still fitting him like a glove. She liked how he looked in it, and she particularly loved the way the mask on his face brought out his eyes. Without really seeing his face, the first thing that caught someone's eyes would be his two big green-orbs. "You perfectly know why." She replied. "5 years ago, you wore that exact same costume to that exact same party. And that night, you happened to save me from a really awkward situation. I can never thank you enough for that, by the way." She could still remember the way his eyes had caught her attention, like it was yesterday.

Barry's annoyance disappeared for a moment as he carefully tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I should be the one thanking you for not blowing me off."

That comment earned him a clear laugh. "Oh, but why would I want to get away from a stranger in a red spandex suit?"

"Okey, I'm going to stop you right there." Barry lifted on hand in front of him, showing her his palm. "First of all, this isn't spandex." He fingered the costume he was wearing to prove his point. "Second of all, when you think about it, I really have no idea why you didn't punch me in the nose that night. It was a really creepy move from me."

Caitlin shook her head in amusement and Barry's breath caught in his throat. They had been dating for more than four years now, and the sight of her could still steal his breath away. Tonight, she was particularly beautiful in her blue icy dress and with a small crown on her head. She looked exactly like the first time he saw her dressed in the Snow Queen / Killer Frost costume Cisco had made for her back then. It felt almost like a dream and like the last few years didn't exist. But they did, he didn't imagine it. And the engagement ring on her finger was the proof of that. Somehow, the small piece of jewellery made her look even more beautiful to him.

He would never forget the day he had proposed to her. It had been a quiet night in and they had both been sitting in their living room, playing the operation game. Barry knew how much Caitlin hated that game but also how much she wanted to prove to him and herself that she could be good at it. That was Caitlin Snow right there, the competitive scientist.

Before settling to play, Barry had prepared everything so it would be perfect. He had baked Caitlin's favourite cookies and had made some nice hot chocolate for them to enjoy during the game. He had been very nervous, but while playing, Caitlin's excitement, as she was getting better at the game, had diffused some of his tension. It had been her turn to extract an object from the patient / game board. She had had a deep frown on her face when she realised that the broken heart had been replaced by a small piece of paper in the shape of a whole heart.

While slightly biting her lower lip, Caitlin had managed to get the piece of paper out of the patient without making him beep. She had furtively glanced at Barry before concentrating back on the paper, carefully unfolding it. Barry could still perfectly remember the crease that had formed between her eyebrows as she had read the two-words-question written on it. Her eyes had flown up to meet his only to see that he had a small opened velvet box in his right hand.

"The whole speech I had prepared to convince you to say 'yes' didn't fit on that small piece of paper." He had said. "And now I'm pretty sure I'm too nervous to recite it to you. So I'm going to keep it simple… Marry me?" She had looked at him with eyes wide open and had just nodded furiously, her throat being blocked by emotions. She had almost climbed on the table between them to hug him. He had eagerly responded and they had experienced a moment of pure happiness.

They were now engaged for about four months and were taking this easy and slow. They felt there was no rush to get married and they felt safe with their promise.

"Anyway, I don't get why we have to go tonight! That guy throws this party every 6 months... can't we go to the next one, so I have more time to prepare myself psychologically? Because I do look ridiculous right now." Barry continued to complain.

"I already told him we would be there tonight." She rolled her eyes at him for what seemed like the millionth time tonight, before continuing. "Anyway, I probably won't fit in my dress in 6 months."

"And why not? Are you planning to do a reverse diet?" He snickered.

Caitlin shook her head with a small smile on her lips. "Something like that." She whispered, glancing up in his direction to see his reaction.

The frown on his face was endearing. Sometimes Barry could be very clueless. So Caitlin decided to let him get what she was saying on his own. She could see the exact second when it dawned on him, when he understood the hidden meaning of her last statement. His frowning eyebrows lifted themselves up in two perfects arches, his mouth fell open and he gawked at her.

"Are you saying what I'm thinking you're saying?" He stuttered, not sure if he should get his hopes up.

Caitlin's smile brightened at the sight of her babbling fiancé. "It depends… What are you thinking I'm saying?"

Barry took his mask off and stared so deeply into her eyes that it made her blush. Some days she found it hallucinating that he still had this affect on her. He slowly put one hand on her hip and the other on her belly. He gazes furtively down to her hand that was now on his, softly stroking his skin.

Barry's eyes went back up to meet hers as he croaked: "Are you…?"

The young doctor softly nodded and whispered: "I am" with an emotion-filled voice, tears coming up in her eyes as Barry engulfed her in a bear hug.

They had never talked about it, but it had always felt like a silent agreement that they would build a family together. And now it was all coming true. Barry didn't think he ever felt happier in his life. After a few minutes, Caitlin finally croaked: "I do need to breathe, though."

Barry snickered and let her go, but he didn't let her get very far, his hands lingering on her arms, like he was afraid she would disappear. "How long have you known?" He finally asked.

"I had my suspicions for a couple of weeks, but just did a blood analysis a few days ago. I wanted to be absolutely sure before telling you." She whispered, getting closer and softly stroking his cheek. They couldn't keep they eyes off each other.

"Let's stay here tonight." He replied with a hushed tone, his eyes darkening all of a sudden.

A deeper blush crept on Caitlin's cheeks and his look was so intense that she felt as if it was burning her, but she still couldn't look away. Seeing that she was about to contradict him, he brought her closer and began leaving small kisses along the column of her neck. She let out a small moan as he found the place he knew was driving her crazy. Caitlin moved her head to let him have more access, but she softly shook it at the same time. "The others will be disappointed if we don't show up…" She managed.

The young man's lips left her skin just the amount of time needed to say: "I don't care" before diving back in. Caitlin chuckled at his behaviour as she threaded her fingers through his hair. She couldn't wait to build a family with this big science nerd. She couldn't wait to see a small version of him running around the house, with chocolate on his hands and an angel look on his face. She would never be able to be mad at him for making a mess. Her heart was already bursting in her chest at the thought of their future together.

Barry pulled away as he felt her breath catch in a way he wasn't expecting. He looked up at her and saw her eyes watering. "Hey, what's going on honey?" He asked suddenly panicked by her reaction.

"No… Nothing… I'm okay…" She chocked on her words, hands gripping at his neck. When she saw him frown at her reply, not quite believing her, she pressed her forehead against his and whispered. "I love you so much… And I'm so happy right now and…"

Barry didn't let her finish her sentence and crushed his lips against hers. They had shared so many kisses over the years, but it still felt like the first time every single time. Their hearts would always flutter together, she would always let him lead at the beginning until she couldn't keep it in anymore and he would gladly surrender to her.

They pulled apart to catch their breaths and one of his hands flew down to her belly. "This is going to be the best ride of our life." He whispered absent-mindedly. He realised he had said that out loud when he felt her body shake from a chuckle. He looked back up again. "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me, Cait."

Yes, right there, under his intense stare, Caitlin decided that they had been apart for too long – about a whole minute. So she closed the gap between them and pushed him in direction of their bed, already fumbling with his suit. When Barry felt the mattress behind his knees a few moments later, he pulled away just slightly. "Hum, Cait… didn't you want to go to this party?"

"We'll just be a little late… Now shut up and kiss me." She groaned against his skin.

So that's what he did. Who knows if they made it to the party? What mattered was the both of them, together, in the moment, living their happiest moments and waiting for more to come.

Some people call it fate or destiny and some people call it chance or coincidence. But these two persons didn't care to give a name to what they had. It was just normal for them. Without the other they felt incomplete. And they were now about to welcome a new tiny human being to complete them some more. And nothing could fill their hearts with more love.

**_Fin_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it folks ! Hope you enjoyed this story ! Keep in mind that this was written back when only S1 had aired :)  
> I'll be posting my other works on here too in the next weeks ;)  
> Until then, stay safe ! :D


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